


Dusk Falls

by bewaretheboojum



Series: Dusk and Revenant [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics), Stormwatch (Comics)
Genre: Alfred being sweet, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bruce throwing things, Cussing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Tim and Jason are like mid-twenties, peppermint tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-02-05
Packaged: 2019-10-12 09:19:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 26,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17464760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bewaretheboojum/pseuds/bewaretheboojum
Summary: Ten years ago, Tim was kidnapped by Henry Bendix. Tim, Apollo and Midnighter eventually escaped Bendix together, but not before Bendix inflicted a few "improvements" on Tim. After joining Stormwatch, Tim becomes 'Dusk', fighting alongside Apollo and Midnighter. But lately, he's been feeling a little restless...Shortly after Tim was kidnapped, Jason was attacked by the Joker, he just barely survived. The road to recovery was long and arduous. After a big fight with Bruce, Jason sets out on his own and becomes Revenant. They hadn't spoken for more than a year until an unexpected weapons shipment to Gotham suddenly necessitates their cooperation.





	1. Into Dusk

Tim reached for his travel mug without taking his eyes off the screen he was reading. Picking the mug up, he absently took a long sip, only to find his drink had gone cold. Grimacing, Tim finished typing out the line of code he was writing, then picked up his cup and walked over to the corner of the ship where a small electric tea kettle sat on a low bench.

Tim had created the ship a few years ago when he decided it might be good for him to take some time away from Stormwatch. When he set out on his own he used technology he and Engineer had developed from studying the Carrier to build the ship. Their new ship moved through the Bleed just as easily, but it was significantly smaller than the Carrier. They called it Hitch, short for Hitchhike. 

The Carrier had been thrilled when he and Engineer had started work on Hitch. Carrier had reacted almost paternally to Hitch and often made suggestions for improvements and enhancements they could make on the smaller ship. 

Hitch was tiny, and sometimes felt cramped when the other members of Stormwatch came to visit, but it felt nice and cozy when Tim was on his own. He didn’t have a lot of things, so he didn’t need a lot of space. All he had was his bank of computers that he used for his research and to help instruct Hitch. He had a workbench to build his equipment. A small bunk was off to one side as well as a tiny kitchen for himself. It wasn’t big and it wasn’t much but it felt more like home than the giant Carrier ever had.

Tim filled the kettle and set it to boil before working on prepping his tea pot and leaves. He was just about finished when a golden, shimmering door appeared and Midnighter stepped out into Hitch.

“Door close,” Midnighter instructed, and the golden door shimmered shut and disappeared behind him. Looking around briefly for Tim, Midnighter spotted him quickly and walked over to give him with a smile. Midnighter gave him a quick, paternal kiss on the forehead, and gave him a brief warm hug.

“Union break?” Midnighter asked, nodding towards the kettle and teapot.

“Tea went cold,” Tim explained. “Did you want something? I can make coffee.”

“Nope, I need to head back in a few. We’re going out to dinner in a bit, but Apollo wanted me to come check on you. He said he hasn’t heard much from you in the past couple of days.”

“I was on the phone with him for 45 minutes yesterday…” Tim pointed out, walking back through his small ship to the bank of computers still glowing in the corner. “He made you weigh in on whether or not I needed a haircut, remember?”

“He’s not wrong about the haircut,” Midnighter said. “Plus you haven’t visited in almost a month. You know how he gets when he doesn’t see you. He worries about you.”

“Just him?” Tim asked, turning to look at Midnighter with a lifted brow. 

Midnighter smiled at Tim and leaned back against one of Hitch’s walls. 

“I worry too,” Midnighter said, reaching out a hand to ruffle Tim’s hair and suddenly Tim felt like he was twelve again. Interactions with Midnighter and Apollo, and even the rest of the team sometimes had that effect on Tim. 

It was hard to believe it had been over a decade since...

Tim had only been thirteen years old the night Bendix had taken him. His parents had been traveling in Brazil that week. They hadn’t remembered, or maybe they just hadn’t bothered, to tell anyone they were leaving. Tim found out they were gone when they just didn’t come home one night. He snooped around and found the receipts for their hotel rooms and plane tickets. Neither of them had told Mrs. McIlvane they had left or when they would be back, so she didn’t know she was supposed to be staying the night with Tim.

Tim had been happy to take advantage of that particular oversight. Mrs. McIlvane was never the most attentive babysitter, but not even having to dodge her at meal times meant that Tim was able to roam free, until his parents got home. 

And he did roam free. Every night Tim grabbed his camera and went out looking for Batman and Robin.

And that night, someone had finally caught him.

Tim had figured out Batman was Bruce Wayne a few years before that night. Dick’s somersault, the adoption, the colors of the Robin uniform. It all fell into place pretty quickly for Tim. He had always had an eye for detail.

Tim watched Batman and Robin both on and off the streets. Tim watched as Dick grew up and grew out of Robin and into Nightwing. He watched Jason move into the Manor with Bruce and grow into Robin. He watched Batman become a father and a hero. He watched them all try and fail and triumph and love and fear.

Tim watched them every chance he could get. Slipping out at night to follow them through the darkened allies of Gotham City. Making excuses during the day to tag along to parties and lunches at Wayne Manor to talk and eat with them. He watched them through a forest of champagne glasses, through the viewfinder of his camera, across rooftops, over delicately held cups of peppermint tea.

He took pictures to help him remember as much as he could and to tide himself over on the days and nights he was stuck alone in his parents’ home. The pictures kept Tim company.

Bendix had told him once that Tim’s unadulterated focus on Batman and Robin was what caught his attention. Bendix spotted Tim one night while he was doing his own surveillance on Gotham City. Eventually he was watching Tim watch Bruce and he was intrigued. In all that time, Tim had never noticed Bendix watching him.

Tim would never forget the moment Bendix finally approached him. Tim was concentrating on framing his shots of Batman and Robin taking down some of Two Face’s henchmen when Bendix came up behind Tim on the rooftop. A heavy hand came down on his shoulder and jostled Tim’s perfect angle.

Tim had looked up in surprise, seeing Bendix for the first time. The man smiled down at him, his facial expression dark and cruel in the pale moonlight.

“They are poetry in motion, aren’t they?” Bendix asked him, his voice low and almost reverent. “Just beautiful.”

Tim didn’t know what to say to him, how to respond. Silent with terror, Tim realized he had been caught. Idiotically, his first thought was worry about what the man would tell his mother when he took him home.

It didn’t take Tim long to realize he was not ever going home again. 

The rest of the interaction was a blur in Tim’s memory. He just remembered the dizzy feeling that washed over him when Bendix pulled Tim into the Bleed and then…

Bendix told Tim later that he had been watching Batman and Robin right alongside Tim. That watching Batman and Robin and Tim gave him ideas about Tim, about what Tim could do, what Tim could be with just a few enhancements.

Technically, Tim had died three times on the operating table as Bendix made those enhancements. Fortunately when Bendix started splicing the bioengineered DNA into Tim’s system, Bendix started with the heightened healing abilities. Bendix had made sure the dying didn’t stick. The pain never changed though. Bendix didn’t seem to care about the pain he inflicted. 

It took five surgeries in all for Bendix to outfit Tim’s brain with all the computer components. They were not anything like Midnighters’. Bendix had designed Midnighter to be a fighter, every enhancement Bendix inflicted on Midnighter was to make him better in pitched combat. Bendix made Midnighter stronger, faster, gave him better reflexes, a computer to anticipate all actions and eventualities in a fight. 

Tim, though, Tim was built to be a thinker, a seeker, a planner, a bank of information at easy access. Bendix took Tim’s already curious and analytical mind and made it something more. He built enhancements to help Tim to absorb vast quantities of information, he built another that helped Tim see patterns and systems within that information, he created another that helped Tim interface with the Carrier (and subsequently Hitch) and other computers. By the time Tim was capable of thought again after all the surgeries, the universe was a new, wonderful, terrifying place and Tim could see through every bit of it.

It had been a hard adjustment. Every time Tim got up from that table, the world looked different and a little more scary. It was disorientating and terrifying in ways that Tim could not even adequately articulate in a way that anyone would understand.

Midnighter and Apollo had been there through it all, though. They had looked out for him, protected him when they could. When he woke up in a cold sweat with night terrors, Apollo would wrap his big warm arms around Tim and whisper to him that everything would be ok. Midnighter would sit next to them both and talk about the life that they would have the minute they got away from Bendix long enough to start living it. 

Tim wanted what Apollo and Midnighter were telling him to be true. He wanted a modicum of peace and safety for all of them.

So Tim had used his mind, and his enhancements, to find patterns in Bendix’s behavior, in the security systems, the missions he sent them on…

It took almost six months, but Tim found a way for them to escape. All three of them.

They lived on the run for a few years, together. Just the three of them surviving as best they could. 

Midnighter taught him to fight, Apollo taught him to live and Tim tried to work past the fear and the pain and the chill deep inside of him that had seemed ever-present since the night Bendix kidnapped him. They worked together, ate together, lived together until they were something close to a family. 

Tim picked the codename Dusk for himself. A nod to both Midnighter and Apollo’s code names. Both Apollo and Midnighter were paternal and involved with him in a way Tim’s parents hadn’t ever been. 

 

But Bendix had found them eventually, backed them into a corner. Apollo had held Tim when Midnighter decided it needed to end. He had covered Tim’s eyes but Tim could still hear bones crunch and Bendix gargle as Midnighter crushed his throat. It took what felt like hours for Bendix to choke to death on his own blood. 

When Bendix was gone and Stormwatch was there and they all had the chance to make the world better, they leapt at it. Tim still didn’t spend much time in the field, feeling much more comfortable and secure feeding intel and directing battle from the relative safety of the Carrier. 

Living in the Carrier, helping the world, working with their team, Tim had felt closer to human but was still left feeling cold. Fear and anxiety still dogged Tim’s heels and even though he was stronger, faster, smarter and a better fighter than most, Tim was still scared of all the possibilities. He knew exactly what could happen to him if he let his guard down for just a minute.

Apollo had objected to Tim striking out on his own when Tim started discussing it. Midnighter had talked Apollo around, eventually. He seemed to understand that Tim needed some distance to figure out who he was outside the context of Stormwatch and their little family. 

Apollo and Midnighter both checked in on Tim frequently. Making sure Tim was eating enough, sleeping enough, and spending at least some time away from his keyboard, going outside and into the world at least sometimes.

Hence Midnighter’s current visit.

Tim turned and gave Midnighter a slight smile.

“You have nothing to worry about,” Tim assured him. 

Midnighter made a noncommittal sound and looked closely at Tim. Tim was trying to decide what to say to reassure Midnighter when the kettle whistled. 

“How is everyone else doing? Keeping busy with new assignments?” Tim asked, eager to change the subject as he walked back over to his tiny kitchen set up. Midnighter gave Tim the rundown of everyone on the team as well as the Carrier as Tim prepared his tea.

He was still telling Tim about a date he and Apollo had been on in a nice restaurant in California by the time Tim had made it back over to his bank of computers, tea in hand. 

“Either way, you should come visit soon,” Midnighter finished. He was standing next to Tim by the computer bank and he put a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Everyone misses you.”

“I’m working on something right now. When I’m done with this, I’ll come see everyone,” Tim promised, guestering to his computers.

Midnighter pulled a face and was about to say something else when an alert went off and a video feed popped up on Tim’s screen.

The video was dark and the images on it were hard to make out. The feed was labeled Camera 15-West Gotham I. That meant it was one of the monitoring devices Tim had planted a few weeks ago in one of the facilities he had been keeping an eye on in Gotham. Tim leaned in close to try and make out who the man was on the screen when Midnighter’s voice cut in.

“Shit kiddo, I thought you were done stalking the Bats,” he said in a disapproving tone. “No good has ever come from you getting involved with them. Besides, they’re pretty moody.”

Tim looked closer and bit off a swear word of his own.

It was Jason Todd. Former Robin. 

The exact former Robin he had been watching the night Bendix had taken him.

Perfect.

Todd was breaking in to the facility Tim had bugged when he first started on this cae. He was in uniform, wearing a long black leather jacket, an armoured black top with a very light grey bat symbol emblazoned on the chest, thick steel toed boots and a holster with some type of smallish gun in it. The hood of his coat was pulled over his head, a point of fabric dipping over his forehead.

Todd did not look equipped to deal with the killer robots Tim happened to know were guarding the building. 

“He’s in a facility I’ve been monitoring,” Tim said flatly. “He’s going to get himself killed.”

“Well, let him,” Midnighter said. “He’s no concern of ours. And stay out of Gotham if you can manage it. I like to avoid pissing contests with the Big Bad Bat as often as humanly possible. I don’t want to get a call from him bitching about you playing on his turf.”

“It’s not just his turf,” Tim said distractedly, wondering how long it would take before the sentry robots would pick up on Todd’s presence. Probably not long.

Midnighter tugged on a lock of Tim’s hair and Tim glanced up from his screen to see him looking down at Tim with concern in his eyes.

“I mean it,” Midnighter said.

“I know,” Tim replied.

Midnighter gave Tim another quick kiss on the forehead, called for a door and then he was gone. Tim looked back to the screen and pulled up the other feeds in the facility. He saw the sentry robots start to mobilize and swore. Todd was totally oblivious and not at all prepared to deal with the weaponry those robots were sporting. Not with just a leather jacket and standard issue body armor to protect him. 

Tim decided he was just going to warn Todd. Just a quick chat over Todd’s communicator and that would be it. That wasn’t getting involved. That was just making sure the facility remained operational for it to have been worth it to leave Hitch long enough to plant his cameras.

Typing at his keyboard, Tim worked fast to identify the frequency of Todd’s communicator. It didn’t take him long. Tim patched his microphone in over the channel.

“You need to get out of there,” Tim said to Todd over the frequency, using a program in his computer to disguise his voice. “Now.”

*****

When Jason arrived at the address that the tracer lead him to, he wondered if maybe Dick was playing some sort of elaborate prank on him. The map led him to a building in a nondescript industrial park, a plain brown brick structure that looked like it sucked the everloving souls out of people who worked inside.

But only in a figurative sense, not a literal one. 

Probably.

Some of the weapons that Dickie Bird said were on the other end of this tracer could do some crazy things. Again, unless this was an elaborate joke.

Jason was trying to decide if he should move in closer to the building when the moonlight flashed on the lense of a security camera that was panning across the empty parking lot of the building. Jason pulled out his binoculars and zoomed in on the camera.

He let out a low whistle as he made out the model of the security camera.

Fancy as fuck.

Maybe this wasn’t a big joke after all.

Jason spent another hour or so taking in the rest of the security system. He pulled the blueprints of the building that were on file with the county up on his phone, trying to find the best way to break in to the place. The thing was that county records on file sure as hell didn’t match the security measures Jason was seeing on the outside of the building.

As he scoped out the place, Jason could make out, in all, several high tech security cameras, a heavy door with a thick lock, a spot to swipe a keycard to gain entrance, and reinforced glass in the windows. There was wire looping the parameter of the roof, protecting the door access to on the top of the building. 

No humans. No dogs. No ravening aliens protecting their precious weirdo weapons.

Given what Dick had told him over the phone, Jason had been expecting a bit more of a challenge this evening.

Dick had called Jason just around sunset, obviously under B’s direction. He had given Jason a heads up that some high tech gear had come into the hands of some of the gangs in Gotham City. He said that Jay might be seeing some more dangerous stuff out in West Gotham, so Jason should be careful. 

The night before, Dick and Bruce had apparently busted up a gang over in the Narrows. They were using some deeply scary stuff that B speculated was alien in origin. When they went in to take a small crew of these guys out, Dick dropped a few tracers in their gear while B put the fear of God into most of them. They let a few of them escape with some of their fancy new gear, and the tracer Dick had planted, to see if these guys had a big stash of the stuff somewhere around Gotham.

Apparently one of the tracers Dick planted in the equipment had turned up in Jason’s neck of the woods.

Jason had staked out his own personal section of Gotham City a few years back when his relationship with Bruce had devolved to the point that they couldn’t even be on the same city block without shouting at each other until they were hoarse. 

Jason had moved out to a little run down apartment all on his own, got a job doing security in Leslie’s clinic, and started patrolling his new neighborhood. Bruce had learned the hard way to respect that decision and Jason’s personal space. Now, either out of emotional exhaustion, spite, or stubbornness, B wouldn’t set foot in West Gotham. If he ever needed some intel to make its way to Jason, Dick or Harper would text or call him.

They hadn’t spoken directly to each other in over a year and a half.

Jason’s relationship with Bruce had always been a little strained and tumultuous because of a sort of unique mix of adolescent rebellion and complex philosophical disagreements. They had mostly been holding things together until…

Until the night Jason had died. The night the Joker finally killed him.

Now that entire night was a miserable blur of violence, pain, terror and betrayal. Jason’s memories of the whole thing were fuzzy. He had been dead by the time Dick and Bruce swung in to save him. Bruce, in an absolute panic according to Dick, had laid Joker out with a blast from a stun gun before he and Dick had started in on resuscitating Jason immediately. 

Jason had been dead for almost 2 minutes by the time they revived him. 

He spent more than a week in the hospital, months more recovering the full function of his broken arms and leg. He and Bruce fought every minute of his recovery.

Bruce pushed Jason to recover as quickly as possible, obviously fighting some deep psychological need for things to go back to the way they were with desperate immediacy. To erase what had happened to Jason and write over it with something close to normalcy. 

That’s when they started fighting even more.

About everything.

They fought about what Jason could eat, how long he could sleep, how often he went to physical therapy…

By the end of it, Jason could walk again, he could fight again, he could run again, he could even take down the criminal element in Gotham City just as well as before. But after all of that, after the dying, and the healing, and the fighting, Jason didn’t feel like Robin anymore.

So Jason left Bruce, he left the manor, he left Batman.

He became Revenant. And Revenant worked alone.

Mostly alone, anyway. 

Sometimes Revenant liked help from his brothers and sisters.

Sneaking past the security cameras would be easy, Jason had been good at that since before he hit puberty. The door locks were trickier. If they had been the usual kind, Jason would have been able to pick them pretty quickly. The electronic locks were a little harder to deal with. 

A few quick texts to Harper solved that problem, though. Thankfully Harp was in the middle of finals and up late studying. She took a quick break from the books to spoof a signal off his cell that read and responded to the transmitter in the keycard swiper. 

Jason was inside in just a matter of minutes.

Smiling smugly to himself, Jason closed the door behind himself and silently took in the darkened building. There were a few cameras on the walls but no signs of guards on the inside either. 

Easy peasy.

Now inside, Jason pulled up the tracer program on his phone and tried to figure out where it was within the building. Hopefully he could track down the rest of the weapons Bruce and Dick had let the gang members run off with. Comparing the tracer program to his copy of the building blueprints, Jason was making his way down a narrow hallway, careful of cameras and any sign of guards, when a short high buzz came in over his earpiece communicator.

“You need to get out of there,” an obviously disguised voice came through over the frequency. “Now.”

What the fuck?

“Who is this?” Jason hissed, looking around his surroundings quickly, trying to see if he was being monitored somehow.

“This is bigger than just the fancy guns, you idiot. You’re in danger. Get out.”

“Listen, I don’t know who you think you are, but this is my bust and I--”

Jason heard the voice on the other end of his line huff out an exasperated breath and the buzz on the frequency went dead. Jason had less than ten seconds to consider who that was and what to do about it when a large spherical robot came rolling around a corner of the hallway Jason was creeping down. It immediately registered his presence and morphed out of a sphere and into a large, spider-like form that had guns on the ends of its legs.

Many guns on many legs. 

All of the legs and all of the guns were pointed at Jason.

Mother fuck.

Jason took off down the hallway, desperate for cover. The Angry Spider Robot was hot on his heels when he found an alcove with a small table. He kicked over the table and braced one shoulder against it for cover as he dug into the pockets of his coat for something he could use to incapacitate the damn thing.

Jason could hear the whir of the robot booting something up and was desperately going through the inventory in his coat when the plaster on the walls above his head exploded with a crash as the robot opened fire. Parts of the desk were disintegrating in front of him as Jason kicked off from it and rolled away from the oncoming fire. He was debating the wisdom of getting to his feet and taking off at a run when another loud buzz emanated from above him.

The Angry Spider Robot stopped shooting at him long enough for Jason to look up to the source of the noise. A large golden glow was flowing along the ceiling tiles. It morphed into something with some wavy lines, then went clear for a split second. As Jason tried to peer through the ceiling up to what was coming down at him. He saw what looked like a bank of computers before a man dressed in grey dropped down into the room next to Jason.

The man was slender, wearing some sort of armored uniform Jason didn’t recognize. It was dark grey with even darker highlights around the chest and shoulders. He wore a black belt and gloves and a dark grey domino mask covered the top half of his face and eyes. Not even looking down at Jason, the man lifted one arm with what looked like a gun. Before Angry Spider Robot could reboot its guns, the man fired. 

What looked like crackling flashes of silver lightning erupted from the gun. The Angry Spider Robot went stiff, shuddered, then burst into pieces and fell to the ground.

The man in grey looked back over his shoulder at Jason. Jason imagined he could see a slight expression of annoyance on the man’s face.

“I told you to leave,” he said, in a low, cool tenor, his voice no longer disguised, as it had been over the comes.

Jason stumbled to his feet, trying to look graceful and smooth. Pieces of plaster and broken desk cascaded off his shoulders as he stood.

“Who are you?” he asked, trying to sound firm and confident, but mostly just managing a tone just an octave under bewildered.

While Jason couldn’t actually see the man’s eyes under his domino. Jason had a strong suspicion he was rolling his eyes under that mask.

“There are more of those things coming,” the man said, moving with swift grace over to the robot. He pulled a few pieces off of the husk of the robot and slipped them into his belt before getting back to his feet. “You need to hurry up and get out of here.”

“We need to dismantle the rest of those things and find the arms shipments before they make their way back on to the streets,” Jason protested.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you had a method to dismantle the robots,” the man said in a tone of voice that Jason did not appreciate one bit. “By all means, feel free to take the next one.”

Jason pulled himself up to his full height and tried to look imposing. It wasn’t too hard given how small the other man was compared to him. 

“People could die, if we don’t--”

“People die every day from things far more banal and I don’t see you rushing in to protect people from the ill effects of tainted produce.”

“I think--”

The man cut him off with a swift hand gesture.

“You’re being dramatic.”

“You just dropped out of the ceiling, blew up a robot and yelled at me and I’m being dramatic?” Jason asked, incredulously.

The man ignored this.

“I’ve been working on tracking this group for months.”

Jason took a deep breath, trying not to let the man keep him off balance.

“Listen,” he said. “Gotham City is Bat-Territory--”

The man cut Jason off again, impatiently.

“The thing you ‘Bats’ fail to realize is that Gotham City is part of the known universe, which is my fucking territory and you just got in the way of weeks of work.”

Jason stepped in close to the man, leaning down to look into his face. The man stepped back, moving away from Jason and reestablishing distance between them, looking up at Jason defiantly. 

“I get that. And that sucks. But when shit gets dangerous in my territory, I address it. I don’t let it go while some asshole I don’t know looks into it. I don’t want the bodega where I get my coffee to suddenly close because the owner got blasted by a space gun during a stick up. I like that coffee.”

That seemed to make the man pause. He thought about Jason’s answer for a split second before tilting his head to one side.

“Alright. That’s fair,” he said. “Door.”

One of the shining panels of light erupted again, this time just to Jason’s left. The man reached a hand into the field and pulled out what looked like a large duffle bag. He shoved it into Jason’s hands before grabbing a small bandaler that would probably fit Jason as a belt. He threw it over one narrow shoulder.

“Close door,” the man said and nodded down the hallway.

“We’ve got to be fast. They’ll have an airship with reinforcements here in no time,” he said taking off down the hall at a swift jog.

Jason started after him.

“Who are you again, and what the fuck is this?” Jason asked, gesturing to the duffle bag.

“My name is Dusk and that’s demolition equipment so don’t jostle it too much. We’re just going to take out the whole building. That’ll be the fastest thing.”

“Demolition equipment?” Jason asked, looking down at the bag in surprise.

“I’m guessing you don’t mind a little danger and mayhem.”

Jason laughed a little breathlessly. 

“Not at all. Now you’re speaking my language.”

It took them about five minutes to set the charges. As Dusk directed him, Jason carefully positioned the equipment and set the timers. Every time another Angry Spider Robot came along, Dusk took care of him with his flashy lightning gun. They were out of the building with minutes to spare on the timers on the blast caps.

They slipped out of the building together and jogged up the hill toward where Jason’s bike was stashed to wait for the charges to go off.

“This,” Jason said, “is gonna be good.”

It was good. 

The explosion was a spectacular bright blue and green fireball that engulfed the building in a matter of moments. They stood together on the hill watching the debris fall back to the ground and the fire catch in companionable silence.

“I think I like you,” Jason said turning to Dusk.

Dusk was still watching the fire blaze, but Jason could see a small smile at the corner of his mouth.

“Hmm,” Dusk said and then held out his arm. Some sort of read out extended from one of his gloves, sort of like a virtual screen. Dusk tapped at it a few times and the screen glowed brighter.

“Fire department has been called,” Dusk said. “You should get going before they show up.”

“Come back to Gotham with me. We can find a bar, get a drink, talk about the case, compare notes,” Jason offered. “Plus, you must be new to the game. I can talk you through things--”

“I’m not new to the game,” Dusk protested. “And I don’t need to be ‘talked through’ anything. And I don’t go to bars.”

Jason was about to start in again when Dusk suddenly looked up.

“Oh no,” Dusk hissed. “It’s moving fast.”

Jason looked up too and saw a large, almost entirely silent airship moving through the night sky with a rapidity he would not have expected.

“I’m guessing that’s their airship...”

“It is.”

“It’s fast as fuck.”

“It is.”

“Does it have more Angry Spider Robots that want to shoot me?”

“Probably dozens. More than we can handle on our own…”

“My bike is--” Jason started, moving towards the motorcycle he had tucked into some bushes off to the left.

“No time,” Dusk said, and grabbed Jason’s arm, pulling him forward as the sphere shaped Angry Spider Robots began falling from the airship.Six of them hit the ground at speed as the airship zoomed back off into the night.

“Door.”

The shimmery golden light appeared again just behind them. Dusk grabbed Jason’s arm holding on to him and waiting just long enough for the robots to get into range. He hit the robots with his lightning gun, just as the door behind them was becoming translucent. Dusk walked through quickly, pulling Jason after him as the robots fell to pieces in their wake.

“Close door,” Dusk said as they stepped through and the golden panel vanished behind them.

“What the fuck is that?” Jason asked, looking at the empty spot where the door had been.

“It would take too long to explain. I’ll take you back to Gotham City. Though, I’m not sure you’ll ever see your bike again… 

Dusk tossed his bandaler over on a side table and made his way to a panel of computer equipment. 

Jason finally took a minute to look around. He was in what seemed like some type of spaceship. They were in a smallish room with a panel of windows that looked out onto a starry sky. The interior of the room where they stood was warm, almost hot. It was well lit, but white and utilitarian. There was just the bank of computers, a few small tables and chairs bolted to the ground. There was a small, tidy bunk off to one side, neatly made but piled high with pillows and blankets.

There were no other signs of human life, as they moved through the star filled sky. 

“Are we in space?” Jason asked, turning away from the windows to look at Dusk.

Dusk was standing next to a bank of computers, looking at a read out on one of the screens. He turned to face Jason as Jay walked across the room towards him. It was the first time Jason had a chance to get a good look at the man. The building had been dark as they worked to set the blasts and the Angry Spider Robots were distracting.

Dusk was good looking in a clean cut sort of way. He was smaller than Jason by a few inches and looked a couple years younger. He was slender, maybe a touch too thin, but clearly whipcord muscular. Dark black bangs fell over his domino and made his skin look very, very pale. 

Dusk looked familiar to Jason, somehow. Jason knew he hadn’t met the man before, but there was this nagging feeling that he had seen that face somewhere. Maybe it was the domino. Everyone in a domino mask looked familiar to Jason. Jason decided he didn’t want to dwell on what that said about him as a person. 

Dusk’s mouth was pressed into a thin line as he thought about Jason’s question, tilting his head to one side as if trying to decide how to answer.

“It’s… hard to explain where we are. I’ve got everything set to drop you off in Gotham. Don’t worry about it.”

“I wasn’t worried,” Jason said. “Just curious.”

Dusk just hummed in reply and turned back to his computers. Jason stepped in closer to Dusk, smelling mint mixed in with the low bite of the explosives they had just used. Dusk moved back away from Jason, establishing a distance between the two of them in a way that was meant to be pointed. 

Obviously not the touchy-feely type.

“So who is distributing these weapons in Gotham City?” Jason asked. “You said you have been working on this for a while, I’m guessing you know.”

“It’s Intergang,” Dusk said, moving his fingers fluidly over another one of those pop up readouts that apparently went with this computer bank. “I just don’t know where they’re getting them. I’m thinking they might be moving interdimensionally, but haven’t been able to confirm where they’re going or how. I’m hoping some of the parts we took off the robots today will help us figure that out.”

Dusk reached into one of the pockets of his belt and pulled out a palmful of the pieces he had pulled off the first Angry Spider Robot he had taken apart.

“How will you find that out?”

Dusk shrugged.

“I think by deconstructing some of the robots’ circuits I can start making some guesses.”

“You’ve done it before?”

Dusk looked up at him.

“You ask a lot of questions,” he said to Jason.

“I was trained by the World’s Greatest Detective,” Jason bragged in a way that he hoped was charming and flirtatious.

The comment seemed to catch Dusk off guard because he had a facial expression for about a millisecond. Unfortunately, Jason couldn’t quite interpet what the expression meant.

“You were trained by a myopic idiot who wouldn’t notice if the world had ended so long as it only happened outside Gotham City limits,” Dusk said grimly.

Jason laughed.

The guy could take down Angry Spider Robots, demo a building and throw shade at Batman all in one night without breaking a sweat? If he drank beer and watched baseball, Jason was going to get down on one knee and propose. 

“He’s not that bad,” Jason said, surprised to hear himself defending B to anyone.

“He’s not that great, either,” Dusk insisted.

“You two haven’t met,” Jason said.

Dusk looked up at him, consideringly for a long moment.

“We’ve met,” Dusk said. 

Jason narrowed his eyes. 

“You’re not in any of our files. I’d remember you.”

“Yeah, that’s not surprising.”

“When did you two meet?”

“We’re all set to drop you off at home,” Dusk said, abruptly, not breaking eye contact with Jason.

“Wait, What?” Jason asked, off balanced and confused.

“Door.”

The shimmering gold panel appeared just behind Jason. Jason looked behind himself at it, surprised, before turning immediately back to Dusk.

“No--” Jason began, but Dusk put his hand firmly in the center of Jason’s chest and pushed.

Jason felt himself falling backwards through the door, before he could catch himself he was laying flat on his back on cold concrete.

“Door close,” Dusk said, and Jason only heard him dimly over the rushing traffic sounds in Gotham.

“No! Wait--”Jason called but it was too late.

Dusk was gone.

Jason groaned rubbed the back of his head with hand as he sat up. He had banged it slightly when he fell out of Dusk’s ship. Looking around, Jason realized that Dusk had dropped him off on the roof of his apartment building.

Not a random building in Gotham City, not a random spot in West Gotham, not Revenant’s hideout. 

Jason Todd’s apartment building.

That… was deeply disconcerting.

It couldn’t be a coincidence. Dusk was too smart and too good for this to be a coincidence. 

That meant was Dusk not only watching him remotely somehow solely because Jason had stumbled into a case Dusk had been working. It meant that Dusk knew who he was outside of that case, outside of Revenant’s mask. 

Dusk knew he was Jason Todd… 

So either he had been watching Jason outside the capacity of this case he was currently working on, or the minute Jason had walked through the door of that building Dusk had run Jason’s face through identification technology that vastly out stripped anything Batman had developed. 

It hit Jason then that he knew less than nothing about the man. He knew he called himself Dusk, but only because he had told Jason his code name. He knew Dusk had something that wasn’t a spaceship but seemed like a spaceship. He knew the man knew about interdimensional travel. He knew Dusk’s capabilities were outside of anything Jason had seen from a man that wasn’t trained and outfitted by Batman, Superman or the Green Lantern Corp. His surveillance equipment, his demogear, his ship, his tech...

Who the fuck was this guy? Where did he come from? 

Dusk said he knew Batman, but none of their archives had any record of him.

How was it possible that there was someone out there who knew who they were and none of them had any idea? How was it possible that this guy, this super capeable, very skilled, obviously experienced operative wasn’t in Bruce’s records or files? 

Bruce made it a point to know everyone within the caped community. The fact that this guy dropped in out of nowhere, literally, with detailed information about Jason was worrying. 

Jason could only guess what else the guy knew, or how closely he was monitoring their activities both in and out of uniform. 

Jason knew he needed to tell Bruce. While he wasn’t looking forward to speaking with the man or even dealing with his reaction, Jason knew he had to let everyone know their identities had potentially been compromised. 

Jason imagined that bit of news would go over like a lead balloon. He also imagined that Dusk was about to get hardcore stalked by Bruce, which would really suck for him. Jason was having a hard time feeling sorry for Dusk, though.

Jason wished he had spent more time asking the man questions and observing the man’s base.

Jason took a deep breath, fishing his phone out of the pocket of his jeans, Jason stared at it for a few minutes before punching in a number and dialing. He was half expecting it to go right to voicemail, but the call connected faster than Jason would have expected.

“Hey B, we need to talk,” Jason said, grimly. “I think we might have a problem.”


	2. Too Close to Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason makes a poor decision, Bruce throws shit (ineffectively), and Tim and Alfred take a trip down memory lane.
> 
> Also, several cups of coffee are ruthlessly murdered in this chapter but Jason manages to save the sandwiches. He's such a good boy.

Blinking still tired eyes, Tim shook his head in mute disbelief as he watched Todd moving across this video screen for the second time in less than a month. Pursing his lips grimly, Tim rewatched the surveillance tape that had been recorded during the mere forty-five he had been asleep. As he watched, Tim came to the unpleasant conclusion that he was going to need to break into the Batcave.

Flicking off the surveillance tape and pulling up a satellite video of the the grounds of Wayne Manor, Tim inhaled slowly and deeply as he took in the images up on the screen. The area of the grounds that the satellite was spanning looked eerie and familiar as the dim rays of moonlight cascaded down over the trees in a way that made the picture look like it was being filtered through a veil. It felt to Tim almost as if he was looking at a picture of someone he loved very dearly but had not seen in a hundred years. 

Tim had an idea of where the Batcave was, but he didn’t know the exact location. Unfortunately, to call a door that would open out to the Batcave, Tim needed to know where the place was exactly so he could communicate it to Hitch. Hence having to drop Todd off on the roof of his building rather than depositing him safe and subtly inside. Tim had found the man’s building through a quick search but didn’ know which apartment rooms were his. As Tim also did not know the exact location of the Batcave as he had never been inside. Tim guessed the next best thing was probably one of the tunnels leading into the cave.

Tim had known for years about the tunnels that led into the Batcave. On the rare nights when Tim’s parents were home when he was a child and Tim could not get into Gotham to follow Batman and Robin, he would climb out his window with a pair of binoculars. He would sit on the rooftop facing the roadway to watch. He would stay there all through the night, dozing as he waited to see them come home, the headlights of their vehicles sparking through the trees that covered the grounds of Wayne Manor. 

During the numerous times that Tim had watched the Batmobile disappear into those tunnels from the roof of his parents house Tim had taken note. Tim knew around about where the entrance to those tunnels had to be. Even after all these years, it was easy to determine the approximate location of where those headlights just vanished in the night. 

When Tim finally worked up the nerve to call for a door, he knew where he needed it come out to be just inside a tunnel that would lead out under the grounds of Wayne Manor and back into the depths of the Batcave. 

Stepping through the door and into the very entrance of the tunnel, the thick scent of dirt struck him right away. The tunnel smelled damp and earthy. Moving quickly into the darkness, Tim used a device on his suit to locate any nearby electronics such as sensors or cameras and disabled them with a short electric pulse. 

Fortunately some of the enhancements Bendix had inflicted on Tim helped him see quite a bit better in the dark than a normal human being, so it was easy to move through the tunnel in the dark. Tim made his way quietly through the passage. It was just under a quarter mile walk later when the tunnel began to brighten slightly from lights shining up ahead. 

Tim felt his stomach tighten into a knot as he approached.

Midnighter had warned him weeks ago not to get involved with the Bats again. Tim had to admit that Midnighter had been right when he said that nothing good had ever come of Tim getting mixed up with them. 

The first time Tim had involved himself with the Bats he had gotten himself literally kidnapped by a mad scientist. That ordeal resulted in him dying several times on an operating table as said mad scientist pt computers in his brain. Then fleeing for his life with Apollo and Midnighter in tow. 

The second time was just a few weeks ago when he tried to save Jason Todd, former Robin and current solo hero, from some killer, other-dimensional robots. Intergang was bringing some pretty scary stuff into Todd’s stomping grounds. Things Todd could not begin to defend himself against. Tim had not meant to step in again, but Todd had stumbled into a case Tim was working. Tim had felt obligated to save him from being ripped to pieces by the robot that was creeping up on him. 

Now, while following the same case, Todd had managed to find himself in another dangerous situation. This one might even be more devastating than the last. Unfortunately Todd had not, yet again, realized it yet. 

Todd had stumbled upon one of the multidimensional transporters that Intergang had been using to obtain the scary weapons they had been using to terrorize Gotham City. All of the Bats had been looking into the new weapons, but Todd seemed to be having the most success tracking down leads and equipment. 

This particular branch of Intergang was mostly operating in West Gotham, Todd’s territory. Todd had a truly impressive network of informants who were more than happy to share intel with him on the gangs operating in his territory.

Tim had warned Todd off when they met the last time, but he ignored Tim’s warnings and continued to chase after Intergang. The man was going to get himself killed. One day, Tim would manage to sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time and be unable to step in to help Todd out when he got himself into trouble. 

After a tip from one of his informants, Todd had managed to find an Intergang base that had one of the transporters on location. Tim had bugged the place just two days before Todd had found it. Tim’s plan had been to wait for the gang members to use the transporter at the base so he could see how the transporter was working. He wanted to see if the gang members were moving into the other dimension themselves or if someone from the other dimension was bringing the weapons to the gang members. That piece of information was critical to developing an strategy to stop the flow of the arms into their universe. 

Before contact between the two groups could happen, Todd blundered into the place and appropriated the transporter. Tim had watched as Todd dottered over what to do with the thing. It took him some time to make a decision about a course of action, but eventually Todd carted the thing back to the Batcave, totally unaware of what he had taken. 

Tim had paced around Hitch, nervously drinking his tea as all many possibilities of the things that could happen with that transporter in the Batcave ran through his head.

That particular situation was dangerous enough for Tim to pry himself away from Hitch and his very nice mug of peppermint tea and make his way to the Batcave himself. 

What if Intergang had a way to trace to the transporter and found their way to the BatCave? What if the people on the other side of the transporter activated it on their end and ended up in the Batcave when everyone inside was unprepared? What if Batman or Revenant accidentally activated the transporter and ended up sending themselves into an unknown dimension? What if the reason the transporter was left unguarded was that it was defective and if they activated it, the thing would explode, or send them into nothingness, or--

The were a lot of bad possibilities and, despite Midnighter’s warnings, Tim felt like it was necessary for him to step in again.

Fucking Bats.

Tim had been half hoping no one would be in the Cave when he got there. He had fantasized briefly about slipping in, taking the transporter and slipping back away without a word to Todd or Batman. Unfortunately it was not looking like that was how this was going to shake out.

Exiting the tunnel, Tim came out into a small clearing containing a bank of vehicles. Skirting around them, he made his way to the entrance of the main chamber of the cave. 

The chamber was huge, a giant penny, a large dinosaur and other oddments in glass cases lined one area. A medical bay was off on another side. One further wall was covered in a bank of computers and a long table with what looked like some laboratory equipment. It was an impressive set up. About fifty Hitches could fit inside the space.

Todd was standing by the laboratory table side by side with Batman. Both were still wearing most of their uniforms. Todd had draped his long leather jacket on the corner of one table and he wasn’t wearing his mask. Batman was also without mask, cape or gloves as they both looked down at the transporter on the lab bench, consideringly.

“So is it like a communicator or something?” Todd asked, his voice drifting across the cave. Tim’s hearing enhancements made it possible for him to catch the sound of Batman puffing out a breath as he thought.

“It’s… unclear at this time.”

“Sooooo, you don’t know,” Todd said, sounding disappointed.

“Not yet,” Batman said, sounding irritating. “We just need to spend some time examining…”

“Examining” might as well have been the magic word. The minute Batman said it, a thrill of concern shot its way through Tim’s belly. Making his way swiftly across the floor of the cave, silent and undetected, he came up behind the two of them. 

They didn’t notice him until he spoke. It looked like sneaking up on Batman and Robin was still a skill he possessed.

“Please don’t touch that,” Tim said, trying to keep his voice smooth and steady, even as his heart pounded in his chest.

Batman’s reaction to the sound of his voice was immediate. Reaching into his utility belt, Batman pulled out a batarang and threw it directly at Tim’s head in one long, smooth, practiced movement. Tim dodged the projectile and it flew off into the the Cave. A glass display case behind Tim containing an old Robin uniform exploded into a burst of broken glass just as Todd caught Batman’s shoulder. Pulling the larger man back, Todd shouted at Batman to stop. 

Batman stilled and pinned Tim with a hard gaze, eyes blazing and face flushed he glared.

Tim, trying to keep his cool and regain some control over the situation, locked eyes with Batman for a moment before looking pointedly over his shoulder at the display case and uniform the batarang had destroyed. The fabric was shredded on the floor of the cave, covered in glass shards and shattered debris.

“No wonder you two fight so much… Are you always this reactionary?” Tim asked turning his back to Batman as he kept his tone light and conversational.

“You’re Dusk, I presume.” Batman said in a cold, flat voice. His Batman voice, not his Bruce Wayne voice, despite the fact that he wasn’t wearing the cowl.

Batman’s face was tight, mouth pressed into a thin line. His brows were furrowed into a glower. 

It was almost strange how familiar Bruce’s face was to Tim despite the glower. Tim had seen that face at dozens of parties or trips next door as a small child. He had seen Bruce smiling benignly, dancing badly, and kissing Tim’s mother on the cheek. Seeing him now, in most of his uniform, face serious and eyes furious, Tim felt a little off balance.

Tim had watched Batman and he had watched Bruce Wayne. Finally encountering the juxtaposition of the two was strange to Tim. 

Keeping his expression as blank as possible as Tim took a step closer to the lab bench with the transporter, hoping to keep this exchange short. The cave was damp and drafty, cool despite the warm summer night outside above them. Fighting down a shiver, Tim briefly thought longingly of his warm bed and a hot mug of tea.

“Wow,” Tim said flatly, focusing back on Batman, “you should be a detective.”

Both Tim and Batman turned their attention to Todd when he snorted out a laugh. 

“Yes,” Todd said, still laughing and patting Batman on the back in a reassuring way. “This is Dusk.”

Tim cut his eyes briefly to Todd. He was still laughing but there were lines of tension around his eyes and mouth. Todd’s shoulders were stiff as he tried to reassure his old partner with a firm hand. 

Jason met Tim’s eyes and Tim could see the stress and worry in them. Tim wondered briefly what it had cost Todd to come here and talk to Batman about the device he had found. It was clear from Todd’s body language that he was not entirely happy to be there. Tim broke their gaze and nodded towards the transporter on the table.

“It’s not safe to have that here. I’ll need to take it with me,” he said, pointedly speaking to Todd, and not Batman.

“Who are you working with? How did you get in here?” Batman asked, barely repressed fury still in his tone. He tugged his arm from Todd’s grasp and stepped forward toward Tim. 

Tim pointedly didn’t step back, even as Batman invaded his space. Tim looked up at the man consideringly. It was a blatant intimidation tactic. While it was working very well, Tim was certainly intimidated, he wasn’t about to let Batman see that. 

“I really do need the device,” he repeated cooly.

“Answer my questions.”

Tim looked up into Batman’s face for a few moments then cut his eyes back to Todd. Todd gave him a half grimace and lopsided shrug, as if encouraging him to answer Batman’s questions. Tim suspected that Batman would not let him move on without at least some type of answer.

It was times like these that Midnighter would recommend distracting the man with half truths, bullshit, and bravado. 

“I’m working alone,” Tim replied shortly.

“I don’t believe you are.”

“In the grand scheme of things I actually care about, whether or not you believe me does not, actually, make the list,” Tim said then turned back to Todd and spoke to him a softer tone. “It really isn’t safe for you to have that here.”

“What is it?” Todd asked, stepping in beside Tim and Batman, clearly trying to break Batman’s laser focus on Tim.

Tim hesitated, taking a moment to decide whether or not he should answer. There wasn’t really any value in lying or concealing the truth about the nature of the device. It was critical they both understand how dangerous it was to have the transporter here.

“It’s an interdimensional transporter. I’m not entirely sure what kind, since I have not been able to examine it. It could only be a one way transporter, but that seems unlikely, so unless you’re comfortable with an imminent invasion of your headquarters…”

“My headquarters has already been invaded,” Batman said, glaring down at Tim.

Tim rolled his eyes under his mask and tilted his head to one side. 

“You’re being hyperbolic,” Tim said. “I’d hardly call my strolling into the place an ‘invasion.’”

“How did you find the Cave?”

“Have you considered that there might also be a tracer on the transporter?” Tim asked, trying to shift Batman’s focus away from personal questions about Tim again.

Batman cut his eyes to the device then turned swiftly back to Tim.

“Is there?”

“I have no idea,” Tim said, shrugging. “Again, I need to look it to be sure. There are any number of things about that device that could pose a serious threat to your welfare and security. It’s best if I take it.”

“I’m not done examining it,” Batman said evenly.

“Given that I was able to identify what it is within a matter of moments while you stood around speculating, don’t you think it’s possible that I’m more qualified to do that than you?”

Batman was silent for one long moment before narrowing his eyes at Tim again.

“You’re out of your depth,” Tim said cooly.

“I’m out of my depth? Have you considered the possibility that I may not trust your word on that given that I have no idea who you are?”

“Have you considered the possibility that you not knowing who I am could indicate that I am, in fact, better at all of this this than you?”

Todd choked on a laugh at that, turning it into a cough without much subtlety.

Batman’s face darkened with a flush and Tim took a deep breath relaxing his shoulders slightly.

“Listen,” Tim said, softening his tone, “I get that maybe you don’t trust me. That’s fine. I don’t care and I don’t trust you either. But I know what’s above this Cave and the longer this transporter is here the more danger the people around you are in. I know Todd would never knowingly put any of you in danger but this is a literal Trojan Horse. It’s best if I have it.”

“Why doesn’t it pose the same risks to you?” Batman demanded.

Tim hesitated again before answering.

“Let’s just say my laboratory set up isn’t in a place that’s easy for a transmitter signal to reach.”

“Your ship?” Todd cut in.

Tim nodded at him.

“Yes, my ship is isolated enough that no one but those who have a connection to the ship can transport inside. Even if someone did manage it, my ship is small enough that any intruder would be at a serious disadvantage.” 

“In Gotham, we call studios that size ‘cozy and intimate,’” Todd said with a grin.

Tim felt himself flush involuntarily at the word ‘intimate.’

“I’m not sure I’d tell Hitch he was ‘cozy’...” Tim said, trying to cover that Todd’s words had left him flustered.

“The ship is sentient?” Batman asked, his eyes narrowing again.

“Listen,” Tim said, ignoring Batman in the hope that he could distract the man from his questions again, “if all I wanted was to take the device for nefarious reasons I could have just come here when you all went to sleep and taken it without having to deal with either of you. But I came now, right after Todd brought it here, because I was concerned for your welfare. For the welfare of… the people around it. I’m still concerned. Please, just hand it over.”

Batman looked like he wanted to continue to argue, but Todd just nodded. 

“You’ll update me when you figure out what type of transporter this is and where Intergang got it?” Todd asked as he walked over to the lab bench and put the transporter back into the canvas bag he had used to bring it to the Cave. 

“Yes, I can keep you posted. I’ll also let you know if I see any indication they brought in any more large shipments of weaponry so you can be prepared. Then you can be assured you won’t suddenly be surprised by something particularly deadly.”

“That sounds good. Thank you,” Todd said as he walked back over and handed the bag with the transporter to Tim.

Batman took a deep breath and eyed Tim consideringly as he thanked Todd.

“You’re with Stormwatch.” Batman said flatly.

“Not really,” Tim said, slinging the bag over one shoulder. He turned back to Todd. “I’ll keep you posted on my progress.”

Batman eyed him with annoyance.

“You’ll update me as well,” he insisted.

“I’ll update Todd. He can decide if you need to be kept in the loop. Door,” Tim said, waving a brief goodbye to Todd as he walked through the portal and back on to Hitch.

It was a relief to be back in his ship. Tim ran a hand over a warm, humming bulkhead to soothe himself before dropping the transporter off on his work bench. Pulling out a device he created, Tim pushed an electrical current through the transporter, rendering it ineffective but still storing all relevant history stored within the device.

Tim was about to step over to pull off his uniform and change into something warmer when a door appeared near his kitchen nook and Midnighter stepped out into Hitch.

“You’re back,” Midnighter said, but his voice held a tone of disapproval.

“I wasn’t gone long,” Tim said, pulling a cloth over the device and stepping over towards Midnighter.

“You don’t usually leave at all, is the thing,” Midnighter said, eyeing him suspiciously. “Where were you?”

Tim shrugged. “I’m working a case.”

“The Intergang thing, again?” 

“Yes, I’m making progress.”

Midnighter hesitated. He looked like he had something he wanted to say to Tim, but was wholly uncertain about how to say it.

“I thought you and Apollo wanted me to spend more time outside of Hitch,” Tim said, moving towards his electric kettle and well worn teapot.

The Cave had been damp and drafty. Tim was feeling even more cold than usual and desperately wanted a cup of tea and a pair of warm pants to change into.

“For things other than work, yes,” Midnighter said. “You almost never go out into the field for your other cases. Actually, you usually go to great lengths to avoid it. Apollo and I are just worried that you’re going into field this much for the Intergang case. Apollo has been asking me if we should get involved--”

“I have it under control,” Tim said firmly, shooting an annoyed look at Midnighter.

“I’m sure you do, but we worry. Especially Apollo. Plus…”

He trailed off as he watched Tim fill the kettle and turn it on.

“Plus?” Tim asked.

“According to Hitch you were over by where the Batcave is located. Near Wayne Manor...” Midnighter said, lifting a hand when he saw that Tim was about to protest being watched so closely. “And don’t go pretending you don’t use the ship tracking system to keep tabs on your dad and I. The looking in on each other thing is a two way street and you know it.”

Tim grimaced and bit off the complaint he had been about to make.

“It was Todd again,” Tim said. “He’s still been snooping around the Intergang case, even though I told him to back off. Tonight he found a dangerous device and took it to the Batcave, I was worried that…” Tim trailed off, unsure how exactly to explain his concerns to Midnighter.

Midnighter was quiet for one long moment, just watching Tim as he fiddled with a jar of tea leaves. 

Tim took a few deep, long breaths as he tried to calm himself down. Midnighter was right, he rarely left Hitch anymore and when he did the stress of dealing with other people in general was hard for him to handle these days. Throw into the mix that he had to deal with Batman and Revenant in the Batcave just miles away from...

“Your parents still live there, right? In the house just next door to Wayne Manor?”

Tim tilted his head to one side in acknowledgement, but didn’t meet Midnighter’s eyes.

“It wasn’t… It wasn’t just that…” Tim said, trying to focus on anything but Midnighter. “Lots of thing could have gone wrong. If something went wrong with the transporter…”

Tim heard Midnighter let out a long slow breath of air. Moving in close to Tim, Midnighter pulled him into a warm hug. Tim leaned into the hug and rested his head on Midnighter’s shoulder as he closed his eyes.

Tim wanted to tell Midnighter that it wasn’t actually about his parents. That he wasn’t really worried about them. He wanted to insist that this whole thing was part of something much bigger than that and he wasn’t letting his personal feelings about anyone or anything get in the way of the work his was doing. But Tim’s throat felt tight and his head hurt and he was so cold that his jaw was clenched in a way that made speaking just then feel a little impossible. 

“It’s not about them,” he said, struggling to get the words out around a tight throat. 

“I know, kiddo,” Midnighter said, soothingly. “I know.”

“It’s been years,” Tim said, and his own voice was so soft and so broken that he didn’t even recognize it. “How is it that things, people, places can be so different but feel so familiar?”

Midnighter pressed a kiss to the top of Tim’s head and breathed in a long, deep lungful of air.

“I wish I knew how to answer that for you,” Midnighter said. “Apollo would know just what to say, but me? I don’t know. I wish I could make this easier for you I wish I could make everything easier for you. But I also know I can’t. Just try to be careful and be safe. It scares the hell out of me when you just go out into the field without saying anything.”

Tim looked up at Midnighter and shook his head.

“I wasn’t in the field, not really.”

Midnighter lifted an eyebrow at him.

“You’re saying the Big Bad Bat didn’t throw anything at you?”

“Well… he didn’t do it accurately.”

Midnighter laughed just as the kettle came to a boil and suddenly Tim was feeling just a little bit warmer.

*^*^*^*

“You shouldn’t have given it to him,” Bruce said to Jason, anger and frustration clear in his voice. “We don’t know anything about him.”

Jason just watched Bruce silently as the other man made his way over to the bank of computers. Jason hesitated a moment before following.

“He’s acted in good faith, so far,” Jason said, shrugging. “He’s saved my life at least twice and he came here to warn us about the device.”

“We don’t know if he was lying about that,” Bruce pointed out. 

Jason fought back the urge to sigh. There were days when Bruce’s stubborn inability to trust anyone or anything that wasn’t Alfred Pennyworth made Jason want to throw Bruce off the side of a building. The fact that he hadn’t done it yet was a testament to Jason’s excellent self control. 

He deserved a medal.

Maybe he should buy himself one.

“Yeah, I get that you don’t trust him,” Jason conceded. “It’s just that he hasn’t given us any reason not to trust him yet, so--”

“He broke into the cave. How is that not a reason to distrust him?”

Jason fought back the urge to roll his eyes.

“Fine, next time I’ll tell him to shoot me a text before he drops by,” Jason said sarcastically, coming up behind Bruce. Jason watched him pull the surveillance cameras from the West tunnel of the cave up on the computer screens. 

They silently watched Dusk come into the tunnel through a door, look around briefly before there was a buzz on the tape and the image went grey. Pulling up the rest of the cameras, they caught him again a few minutes later, lingering at the opening of the main portion of the Cave. They watched him hesitate and listen to the two of them speaking before walking up behind them and cutting in.

Bruce ran through the tape about four times before picking a shot that fully framed Dusk’s face and pulling a screen grab. He put the image through their facial recognition software and waited for results to populate.

“The door he called indicates he is associated with Stormwatch, somehow. That’s the only group I have ever seen use that “door” as a mode of transport,” Bruce mused, looking at Dusk’s face. “He looks vaguely familiar but I can’t say I’ve ever seen him before. The mask doesn’t help matters. I also don’t think that Midnighter has ever mentioned him…”

“Yeeeeah, he looks a little familiar to me too but I can place where.”

“You haven’t seen anyone with him?” Bruce asked. 

“Nope, just him flying solo the whole time. His ship didn’t look like it accommodated anyone else, either. One bed, one table, one chair…”

“Hmmmmm,” Bruce hummed as he thought about that. 

Jason watched as the progress bar on the facial recognition program filled slowly on the screen, wishing he had followed Dusk through the door. Jason wanted to talk to the man alone again. Last time they spoke, when they were alone, Dusk seemed to say so much more. Jason wondered if Bruce’s presence put him off. Given his attitude towards Bruce, it seemed like Dusk didn’t like the man very much.

No one understood that feeling better than Jason did.

Jason had debated with himself for almost an hour before bringing the device to Bruce. It hadn’t been an easy decision to make. The conversation he had with Bruce the other day about Dusk knowing his identity (and possibly the others) hadn’t gone well. Bruce had interrogated Jason and acted like he didn’t believe Jason when he insisted he had no idea who the guy was or how to find him again. 

Bruce had been furious about the whole thing and Jason ended up hanging up the phone on him in frustration. And now here he was, back in the Batcave, getting taken to task again.

Not Jason’s favorite thing. 

Jason was half wishing he had just brought the damn thing home with him instead of taking it to Bruce. Then Dusk might have shown up in his apartment instead of the Batcave and…

Jason’s apartment wasn’t as ‘cozy’ as Dusk’s ship, but Jason was sure he could make the space feel just as intimate. Maybe, if it was just the two of them and nothing was actively trying to kill them, the man would open up a little more. Maybe he would tell Jason how he got into the game, what his real name was, where he actually lived...

Jason made himself stop thinking about being alone with Dusk in his apartment. The last thing he needed to do was distract himself with that.

Turning back to Bruce, Jason was about to ask about how long the software would take to find a match when he heard the clock at the top of the stairs open and Alfred’s neatly appointed dress shoes tapping down the long flight of stairs from the Manor above.

Alfred smiled when he saw Jason, holding up the small silver tray containing a plate full of sandwiches and some mugs of hot coffee. Alfred was a life saver. At least now Jason would have backup against Bruce’s temper.

Backup and sandwiches.

“Master Jason, I’m glad to see—“ 

Alfred came up short when he caught sight of the picture up on the screen. Abruptly, his tray tilted and the two mugs of coffee went tumbling to the floor as Alfred’s hands went slack with surprise.

“Al,” Jason called, rushing over to him to take the tray from his hands and steady the older man.

Bruce looked up sharply from the computer, concern clear on his face as he rushed over to Alfred as well. Jason rescued the tray of sandwiches and they walked Alfred over to a chair next to the computer bank. Alfred settled into the chair as Jason put the slightly disassembled sandwiches on a nearby table top.

“Are you alright, Alfred?” Bruce asked, concern in his voice.

Alfred just gestured to the image on the screen, eyes still fixed on the picture.

“Why is he wearing a mask?” Alfred ask, in a tight voice.

“Do you know who that is?” Bruce asked, concern gone from his tone, overtaken by intense curiosity. 

Alfred nodded, still looking at the image on the screen.

“Of course. He’s older, naturally, but it’s unmistakably him. It’s clear from the bone structure and that cowlick in his hair. It’s Master Timothy.”

“Master Timothy?” Jason asked, confused. 

“Don’t you remember? The Drake’s boy. The small one. He went missing back in—“

“God, that was years ago,” Bruce said, his face lighting with the revelation.

“At least a decade,” Alfred agreed. “Maybe more.”

Jason did remember then. 

Jason remembered the kid pretty vividly, actually. They all called him Tim. The kid was small, too small for his age and too thin. He was smart but so quiet, always trying to stay out of everyone’s way. His parents were rarely around and when they were they never really paid attention to the kid. He was always hovering at the edges of some party or another, sneaking off with a handful of sandwiches Alfred always had for him. 

Jason also remembered the night the Amber Alert went out when they realized the kid went missing. The parents had gone on TV with their tearful pleas for their son’s safe return, but it was clear from the police report that they had left the kid home alone and didn’t realize until the next day Tim was missing. 

There really wasn’t ever any time line or suspects. The best anyone could come up with was the kid wandered off and got lost in the woods somewhere.

The morning after the Amber Alert, search parties were formed at the Drake’s house. Dozens of people spent hours scouring the Drake property and parts of the grounds for Wayne Manor. 

Jason remembered the thrill of concern that shot through him when the cops asked to check the grounds of the Manor and Bruce agreed. Jason spent more time that afternoon wondering what would happen if someone did spot an entrance to the Cave than he did focusing on finding the kid. 

Alfred had hovered around the corners of the search party with endless plates of sandwiches and cups of coffee, asking about progress or signs of the boy.

It had shaken Alfred when it happened. The elderly man had hid it well, but Jason could tell, even then. Alfred had taken an interest in the kid. Whenever Tim had visited, Alfred made sure he got plenty to eat and would even break out the really good candy and juice.

Jason had been a little jealous.

Alfred was really unsettled by the whole thing. Jason could easily understand why. A lonely, dark-haired rich kid living in their neighborhood goes missing, never to be seen again. 

It shook Jason up back then, too.

Alfred had spoiled Jason, Dick, and Bruce rotten for a few months after Tim had gone missing. There were extra sandwiches, lots of cookies, candy bars and more hot chocolate than Jason had ever consumed in his life.

Bruce kept looking for the kid even after the search parties stopped but there was just nothing to go on. The only thing missing from the kid’s room was the clothes he was wearing and his camera. The parents were no help, the kid’s friends had no idea, no word of him showed up on any of the the more shady sites on the Dark Web. Eventually, Bruce just stopped looking and Jason just stopped thinking about the kid.

No wonder he knew Jason’s name when they met. They had met years before.

No wonder Dusk had looked familiar to Jason.

“How did he end up with Stormwatch?” Bruce’s voice broke through Jason’s thoughts. 

Alfred looked up at Bruce, surprised.

“Master Timothy joined Stormwatch?” Alfred inquired, rare surprise in his voice.

“He says he isn’t affiliated with them but he’s using their equipment…” Bruce said, grimly.

“Have you asked any of the other members?” Alfred asked, interestedly.

“Yeah, it’s possible he just stole the tech,” Jason pointed out. “He seems like he might be good at that. He’s a sneaky guy.”

Bruce pursed his lips and hesitated before answering.

“The only one of them I really know is Midnighter. I don’t really have a way to contact him and even if I did he’s...” Bruce trailed off.

“He’s what?”

“He’s not exactly the easiest person to communicate with,” Bruce said.

The temptation to start yelling about pots, kettles, hypocrites and idiots was truly and deeply strong within Jason. He reminded himself that Alfred didn’t like yelling and if he started he might not get the sandwiches. 

“I’d guess Midnighter might know something about the kid,” Jason said, needing to move past that comment just out of sheer self defense.

“Why do you say that?” Bruce asked.

“Midnighter… Dusk… makes sense thematically,” Jason said with a shrug.

Bruce looked thoughtful for a few long moments.

“I’d rather not get Midnighter interested in this case…” Bruce said.

“Why? Any reason aside from his winning personality?”

“His solutions to problems often involve extreme violence and explosives,” Bruce said, grimly moving over to the computer bank and pulling up Midnighter’s profile. “I want to avoid having that sort of thing happen in Gotham as much as possible.”

Jason tried to keep his face even as he thought about the building he and Dusk had blown up the last time they had met. It was sounding more and more like Dusk and Midnighter had some connection. Their names matched, they both had issues with communication, they both had tempers, they both liked to blow things up...

Jason wasn’t as opposed to blowing things up as Bruce was. He thought there was value in the cleansing power of a good explosion. 

Especially where groups like Intergang were concerned. Groups that tended to be lazy enough not to try to rebuild something after it gets burned to the ground were good candidates for some demo work. 

“Do you think he will contact you again? When he deciphers the device?” Bruce asked, after a time.

“I think so,” Jason said. “He seems pretty pragmatic to me. He would probably keep me up to date with what he found if only to keep me from snooping around in his case any more. He got very irritated with me when I stumbled into things last time. He didn’t seem any happier about it today.”

“When he reaches out to you, get a feel for him. See if you can find out if he is actually Drake.”

“That is Master Timothy,” Alfred said firmly, nodding up at the screen. “The chief question would actually be: why he hasn’t come home? He seems able to move freely. His parents are just next door. Why come here but not go there?”

Both Jason and Bruce thought about that.

“Do you think he didn’t think we’d recognize him or do you think he knew we might but just didn’t care if we did?” Bruce asked.

Jason nodded back to the computer where the facial recognition software had popped up a message saying it hadn’t found a match.

“My guess is a little of column A and a little of column B,” Jason mused. “If it hadn’t been for Alfred, we wouldn’t have recognized him. The software didn’t come up with a match and he doesn’t look or act much like the kid we knew ten years ago.”

Bruce nodded slowly as he thought.

“I’ll look up the case files of his disappearance again,” Bruce said. “I’ll admit, I haven’t read them for several years now. I’d given up on the idea that he might still be alive.”

Jason nodded in agreement, thinking it might be a good idea for him to look into the files again too.

“When he finds you again, try to get an idea on how much he knows about us. Ask him what his plans are. See if you can find out where his base is. Does he intend to move in on Gotham as a territory—“

Jason cut Bruce off with a wave of his hand.

“He’s a big picture guy. He likes his ship and his computers. Gotham is small time for him. I think we may actually be small time for him…”

“Do you think…” Alfred’s soft voice cut into their conversation. “Do you think they took him all those years ago? Stormwatch?”

Bruce looked down at Alfred consideringly. 

“I doubt it. They have no history of kidnapping civilians and I think we’d know if they had taken up kidnapping small children. Plus, I don’t think they were operating back then. It had to be someone else. How he ended up with them is another question.”

Alfred nodded and seemed to shake himself out of the almost dazed state he fell into when he first saw Dusk’s picture up on the screen.

“I’ll leave it to you then, Master Bruce, Master Jason.” Alfred said, getting to his feet. “I’ll clean up this mess and get you both fresh coffee.”

Alfred skirted around the broken mugs and spill of coffee on the floor to make his way back up the stairs and into the Manor. 

Jason, suddenly reminded of the sandwiches on the tray next to him, picked one up, reassembled it, and took a bite.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw Al that shaken up. He even broke the coffee cups,” Jason said, still watching the staircase Alfred had just walked up.

“It was the night we took you to the hospital,” Bruce said, quietly.

“What?” Jason asked as he looked at Bruce, curiously. 

“The last time I saw him that shaken up was the night we took you to the hospital,” Bruce elaborated, pointedly looking at his computer screen rather than Jason’s face.

Jason took a deep breath and tried to decide what to say to that. He couldn’t seem to come up with anything and figured changing the subject was probably the better part of valor in this situation.

“You think the kid was kidnapped, though?” Jason asked, looking up at Dusk’s picture.

“From what I remember of him, I very much doubt he ran away,” Bruce said grimly.

Jason was inclined to agree on that point but the question still remained, who would take the kid and how did he end up with Stormwatch?


	3. Stakeouts and Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason gets a visitor during a stake out. 
> 
> Tim needs to come to terms with some things.
> 
> Also, Jason makes some bad jokes, Tim has some crazy dreams and Apollo is a good daddy.

This evening was shaping up to be an exercise in butt numbing boredom. The communicator in his ear was picking up audio from a bug Jason had shot onto the wall of the apartment building across the street. It crackled back to life as someone inside the apartment said something in a low tone of voice. Jason sighed as he leaned in, using his scope to peer into the window down below.

He watched as one man handed a carton of cigarettes to another, both settling into a pair of folding chairs next to a card table in the center of the room. Jason shifted his position on the rooftop he was sitting on, wishing he was at home with a beer or maybe something nicely caffeinated. 

He was weighing the pros and cons of continuing his surveillance versus going home and watching the Knights game when he heard a buzz behind him. Jason whirled around and saw a door shimmering into existence behind him. As it became more clear, Dusk stepped out of it, nodding a hello to Jason.

A thrill of excitement shot through Jason watched Dusk walked over to him. Dusk was wearing his uniform again, the dark grey fabric making him blend easily into the shadows of the rooftop. His dark hair fell neatly over the mask that covered most of the top half of his face. Black gloves covered long, slender fingers that held up two travel mugs in greeting as the door behind Dusk evaporated into the night.

“Been awhile,” Jason said, waving back and patting the hard cement roof next to him, indicating that Dusk should sit behind him. 

Dusk handed Jason one of the mugs as he settled down on the rooftop next to Jason.

“Just a few weeks. I’ve been doing research. How is the surveillance going?” Dusk asked, taking a sip from his mug.

“Depends,” Jason said, lifting the mug to his lips and tasting rich, hot coffee. “How interesting do you find farting and cigarette smoking?”

Dusk tilted his head, as if considering Jason’s question for a moment before answering.

“You know, I’ve never found it particularly relevant to any of my investigations, but I’ve been surprised before.”

Jason snorted a laugh.

“Thanks for the caffeine, by the way,” Jason said, hiding his laugh in the rim of the cup. “I was dying a little over here.”

Dusk lifted his mug and tapped to Jason’s in a silent toast.

“So you figure out more about the transporter?” Jason asked.

“Mmm, yeah,” Dusk said, taking another sip from his mug. “The reason they hadn’t used it in the time that I was monitoring the facility was that it was non-functional.”

“It was broken?” Jason asked, turning to Dusk.

Dusk nodded. 

“I believe so. Fortunately.”

“Why is that fortunate?” Jason asked, grimly.

Dusk turned to look at him with a slight expression of surprise.

“It means you didn’t endanger anyone when you took it out of there,” Dusk replied.

“Ahhh, yes. I guess that’s true. But it means a dead end in your investigation, right?”

“Not as such. I believe I can use the tech in the broken transporter to locate the others that Intergang is still using. I just need a little more time with the tech,” Dusk replied in a light tone of voice that sounded frankly confident. 

“What’s the plan then?” Jason asked.

“That depends on what I find,” Dusk said in a tone of voice that was a bit dismissive. “I’ll keep you updated though.”

They sat in companionable silence for a few moments, watching the apartment window and sipping from their mugs.

“You came here,” Jason said, after a time.

“I did,” Dusk agreed, lightly.

“You could have told me through my communicator. You hacked into it once before,” Jason ventured.

“I could have,” Dusk agreed again.

“But you came here,” Jason said again.

Dusk didn’t respond, just took in a long, deep breath and had another sip from his mug. 

“I thought…” Dusk began, before pausing again briefly. “I thought you might have more questions for me.”

“Do you have the Batcave bugged?” Jason found himself asking without thinking.

While he couldn’t see Dusk’s eyebrows beneath his mask, Jason could tell he had lifted them in surprise.

“Uh,” Dusk said, puffing out his cheeks for a brief moment as he thought about what to say. “No, I don’t.”

Jason was momentarily distracted at how cute the cheek puffing thing was.

“We’re not very interesting to you, are we?” Jason asked him with a smile.

“There are things that are more interesting, certainly,” Dusk said. Despite the mask, Jason could tell Dusk was looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

Jason huffed a laugh and leaned back, propping himself up behind his back on his free hand.

“I’m not offended. You clearly have bigger, better things going on in Stormwatch.”

“I told you the other night,” Dusk said, his voice going a little tense. “I’m not affiliated with Stormwatch. Not really.”

“Batman seems to think you are.”

“Well that settles it. I must be a member, then. How could the World’s Greatest Detective be wrong?” Dusk asked, mildly.

“So you’re not?”

“Presumably, I’d be in a position to know if I was,” Dusk replied.

“Presumably,” Jason agreed with a smile. “You use very similar tech.”

“Well observed,” Dusk said, looking pointedly at the window of the apartment building Jason was doing a piss poor job surveilling. 

Jason took a deep breath and tilted his head to the side and watched Dusk consideringly as the other man sipped his mug.

“You didn’t come here to tell me about the transporter. You came here to see if we’d figured out you’re Timothy Drake.”

Dusk pointedly didn’t react the sound of his real name. He turned to face Jason again with deliberate casualness. 

“I thought you might,” Dusk said lightly. “World’s Greatest Detective and all…”

Jason smiled.

“It wasn’t B.”

“Mr. Pennyworth?” Dusk guessed.

“You got it.”

Dusk nodded, consideringly.

“He had… He had always been kind to me. Took an interest.”

“He likes you,” Jason said.

“He clearly has a great deal of tolerance for…” Dusk began and then trailed off.

“For what?” Jason prodded.

“Tolerance in general, I suppose,” Dusk finished. “Or maybe it’s just kindness.”

“I think he thought…” Jason began and then paused, trying to figure how to finish the sentence. “I think he was worried about what it was like for you… at home.”

Dusk stilled again and then took another deep breath, tilting his head back and looking up at Gotham’s perpetually cloudy sky.

“Kind and observant.”

“Was it bad?” Jason asked, trying to get a read on Dusk’s face. “At home?”

“It wasn’t great.”

“Did you run away?”

“No.”

“Is it why you don’t go back?” Jason asked.

Dusk huffed out a quiet laugh that sounded more bitter than mirthful to Jason.

“No,” Dusk said a little breathily. 

They both went quiet for a few long minutes. 

“So what happened? The night you went missing?” Jason asked, finally.

Dusk was still and silent for a few moments before shaking his head. Jason guessed that he had his eyes closed beneath the mask. 

Dusk shook his head slowly. He didn’t say a word in answer to Jason’s question but Jason got the message. Dusk wasn’t going to tell him.

“So why Dusk, then?” Jason said, getting the impression he should probably change the subject before Dusk decided to cut his loses and leave.

“Why Revenant, then?” Dusk asked back, glibly.

“I…” Jason began and then took a deep breath, trying to decide how to answer. “I died once. For about two minutes.”

Dusk nodded and took a sip from his mug, tilting his head in understanding.

“Me too,” Dusk said, pointedly not looking at Jason again. “More than once.”

“Yeah?” Jason asked, surprise suddenly making him sit upright.

“Yeah,” Dusk confirmed. “But I chose not to dwell. You should consider the approach.”

Jason huffed a laugh, running a hand over his face that now felt damp with nervous sweat.

The silence coming from Dusk was pointed, as if he was on the edge of saying something else.

Jason leaned in to Dusk, brushing his shoulder against the other man’s in a way that was meant to be comforting.

“You know,” Dusk said finally, swallowing hard and tilting his head back to look at the sky again. “Ever since that moment, the moment I woke up, I feel like…” Dusk swallowed hard again and Jason could tell he was closing his eyes under his mask again. “I feel like I’ve never really been able to get warm since then...”

Jason took a deep breath.

“Yeah… I get that. I’ve been there,” Jason said, his voice a little gruff with emotion. “It… It gets better. Eventually.”

“I wonder…” Dusk replied in an almost curious tone of voice. “I wonder when ‘eventually’ is.”

Jason shook his head sadly and swallowed hard around a lump in his throat.

“I wish I had an answer for you. Until then… heated blanket?” Jason said, trying to lift the mood with a bad joke.

Dusk smiled slightly and nodded.

“Electric blankets,” Dusk agreed and lifted his travel mug up to Jason again. “And peppermint tea.”

“Peppermint tea?” Jason asked, smiling a little. “Damn, I can’t stand that stuff anymore. Alfred poured so much of it down my throat when I was a kid. Whenever he brought coffee for Bruce there was always peppermint tea for me. I swear I was in my twenties before he let me have any caffeine.”

Dusk nodded and smiled at Jason.

“He’s the reason I developed a taste for it,” Dusk admitted. “Whenever I came over he always made a pot for me. Along with all the sandwiches and cookies I could eat. It always made me feel…”

“Warm,” Jason finished for him. “Warm and cared for.”

“Something like that, yes,” Dusk agreed.

They sat there in companionable silence both thinking about Alfred with amusement and affection. 

“Does anyone call you Tim anymore?” Jason finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes. A few people.”

“Can I call you Tim?” 

“When…” Dusk began, then paused as if trying to decide how to answer. “When it’s just us, I suppose you could.”

“You can call me Jason,” Jason offered in return.

Tim lifted his head and looked at Jason.

“Not Jay?” Tim asked, Jason could see, even in the moonlight, that his face was flushing slightly. “I used to call you Jay. When we were kids.”

“Jay’s good too,” Jason agreed and smiled at Tim.

Tim dipped his head in acknowledgment and looked away from Jason’s face.

“Well,” Tim said, getting to his feet. “I should go.”

“You sure you don’t want to stick around for the showing of Jason’s Boring Surveillance Night Part 2: This Time There’s More Farts?”

Tim smiled down at him.

“As tempting as that sounds,” Tim said, “I do need to figure out this Intergang thing.” 

Tim called a door, gave Jason a small wave goodbye and then he was gone.

Jason was still smiling as he finished his coffee a few minutes later.

He liked Tim. He liked Tim a lot. The guy fought crime, blew shit up, mouthed off to Bruce, loved Alfred’s cookies and smiled at Jason’s truly terrible jokes. He was smart as hell, really kind of funny, he cared about people. All traits Jason liked in a person.

Aside from confirming that Dusk was, in fact, Tim Drake, Jason did realize that he hadn’t actually gotten answers to any of Bruce’s other questions. Jason couldn’t really bring himself to care very much. He liked Tim and he got the impression that getting any clear answers to the questions Bruce asked might take some time.

Jason leaned back on his hands again, consideringly. 

Tim did say he had died as well. More than once. Maybe he had been kidnapped. Maybe the kidnapping had gone wrong and Tim had been killed in the process. 

But then… How was he alive right now? 

Especially if he died more than once.

Maybe Drake was a meta?

As his communicator buzzed again with the sound of the two men in the apartment below arguing about pizza toppings, Jason sighed and stood.

Stretching his back and legs, Jason grabbed his bag and made his way to the fire escape on the top of the building and began to climb down and make his way home. 

Jason had just slipped into his ground floor apartment through the secret door he installed in the laundry room when his cell phone buzzed. Alfred’s name came up on the screen and Jason punched the green button to answer.

“Hey Al,” Jason said with a smile, kicking off his boots in the doorway of his small studio apartment.

“Master Jason,” Alfred said politely. “Are you home for the evening?”

“Yup, safe and sound and in for the night. What’s up?”

“There will be a family dinner on Saturday evening,” Alfred said. “Prime rib. I trust you will attend.”

“Al…” Jason began hesitantly, but Alfred cut him off. 

“Obviously, dinner will begin after the Knights have finished playing the Bludhaven Bloodhounds.”

“Obviously,” Jason said with a smile, pulling off the rest of his uniform, balling it up and tossing it into a hamper in his bedroom before moving into the kitchen in his boxers. “Will Dick be there?”

“Yes, Master Dick will be in attendance.”

“Alright then, I’ll be there,” Jason agreed, opening his fridge and leaning down to examine his snack options. They were dismal. “But the minute Bruce starts policing what I eat, I’m out.”

“That is agreeable,” Alfred said and then paused, as if he had something else to say.

“Anything else on your mind Al?” Jason asked, straightening from a crouch in front of the fridge with a small orange in hand.

“I was wondering if you had heard from Master Timothy, at all?”

“Actually, he came to see me just about an hour ago,” Jason said.

“Did he?” Alfred asked.

“He did. He remembers you, you know? Turns out you gave him a lifelong appreciation for peppermint tea.” 

“While it is gratifying to know that I have managed to impose some sense of taste and culture on at least one young man during my tenure, I wonder if he mentioned what had happened to him.”

Jason puffed out a sigh and stood over his trash can, peeling his orange.

“He didn’t, actually. He said he was Tim Drake, that he thought we might figure it out, but when I asked about why he went missing…” Jason trailed off.

“He was not forthcoming.”

“It was… It was more like he couldn’t, than he wouldn’t. Like maybe he didn’t have the words...”

Alfred was silent on the other end of the communicator, as if thinking about what Jason had said.

“He didn’t run away from home, then? He didn’t run away from his parents?” Alfred asked, in a sort of soft voice.

“Ummm, I doubt it,” Jason answered. “From what he said, it didn’t seem like it was voluntary.”

“I see,” Alfred said and there was something in the tone of his voice that made Jason think…

“Alfred, are you relieved he didn’t run away?”

“I--” Alfred began, then paused. “I am relieved that my negligence did not lead to him feeling as if he had no other choice but to flee.”

“You’re negligence?” Jason asked, pausing in his peeling and standing upright to listen carefully to Alfred’s reply.

“I had worried… I had worried that my failing to intervene with his parents in a timely manner may have lead to him leaving.”

Jason felt his throat get thick and when he spoke again it was a struggle.

“Aw Al, he had nothing but good things to say about you tonight. And he didn’t run away.”

“As you say, Master Jason,” Alfred demurred. “That is good hear.”

Jason chatted with Alfred for a few more minutes, trying to cheer Alfred up before hanging up. Alfred’s mood did seem to lighten as Jason begged and cajoled Alfred to make potatoes au gratin rather than mashed potatoes with the prime rib on Saturday. Alfred agreed to take Jason’s opinion on the potato situation under advisement and then rang off.

Jason finished his orange and headed in the direction of his bed. Collapsing into the soft mattress, Jason pulled the blankets up over him. Curling up deep in his warm bed, Jason thought about what Tim had said about always feeling cold.

It was something he could understand. When Jason first woke up at the hospital, the unfortunate victim of a brutal and random attack according to the bullshit Bruce had fed the papers as cover, he was worried the pain he felt would never go away. He was terrified that some part of him would always hurt, whether it was his leg or his arm or his head, something would always ache or spasm or throb. He got so used to the pain for so long that when the pain finally did stop, Jason almost felt like something was missing when he finally realized it the pain was gone.

That had taken years, though, even with all of Alfred and Dick’s support and the best medical care that Bruce’s money could buy.

Jason wondered briefly who was there for Tim when he woke up. Jason wondered if there was anyone at all. Tim didn’t seem the type to have a lot of close relationships. He never mentioned anyone else in his life but then, realistically, Jason had only spoken with him a handful of times.

It was a depressing thought that Jason really didn’t want to dwell on. As much of a pain in the ass as Bruce was while Jason was on the road to recovery, at least he was there. Jason never felt alone throughout the whole ordeal, if anything, there was too much affection and support. Alfred was there to coddle him, Bruce was there to bully him and Dick was there shower him with brotherly love and attention.

Jason couldn’t help but wonder if Tim ever got the same treatment.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^

The moon was finally getting close to full. A waxing gibbous in a shockingly cloudless sky shone down with a level of brightness Gotham rarely saw during the day, let alone the night. A chill wind whipped around Tim, pushing Gotham City’s usual cloud and smog cover off to sea. 

Cradling his camera close to his chest, Tim reveled in the excitement and anticipation he felt as he carefully and quietly climbed a fire escape. Tim made his way to the roof of a building adjacent to where Batman and Robin were battling a couple of Two Face’s goons.

It took Tim no time at all to find the spot on the roof to capture Batman and Robin at the best angle. The nearly full moon provided the best lighting Tim had on his nocturnal excursions in quite some time. Because he couldn’t use a flash without giving away his location, Tim had to resort to different exposure techniques or a conveniently placed street light to get a decent shot of the two of them. 

It took patience and practice.

Tonight, though, tonight would be perfect.

The minute he settled into place on the rooftop, Tim pulled his camera up to his eye and snapped picture after picture of the fight, pausing only to change the film with a speed born of countless repetitions. Tim felt his heart racing as he watched Robin take a hit and go down, but Batman was there just seconds later to fight off the man who had hit Robin and help him back to his feet.

Tim was riveted by the fight, by the way they moved together. It was almost like a complex dance that only they knew they the steps to. A punch, a kick, a jump, a deflection, they moved around each other and with each other in a way that made Tim’s mind race and a thrilling shudder pass through him.

“They are poetry in motion, aren’t they? Just beautiful.”

Tim’s heart stopped at the words and he felt his whole body go numb with shock. Paralyzed with fear, Tim felt his camera slip from his fingers and catch with a weighty pull on the strap around his neck.

It couldn’t be. Not again. Not Bendix. Tim had to run. He had to get away. He had to—

Bendix’s hand fell heavy on Tim’s shoulder and Tim’s mind ran through all the techniques Midnighter had taught him to pull away from a hand like that and retaliate with malice.

“Come, come my pet.” Bendix whispered in a harsh, sibilant voice. “You know how this works. You know who you belong to.”

Tim’s muscles twitched with the instinctive need to pull back from that hand and his mind screamed at him to run, to get away, to find help.

But he just couldn’t move.

The sound of Bendix’s deep laugh echoed in Tim’s head as Bendix’s hand tightened on his shoulder painfully. He continued whisper to Tim, saying all the things that Tim just couldn’t bare to hear.

He told Tim all of the things that he was going to do him, to make him better, to make him smarter, to make him belong to Bendix completely…

Tim felt himself choke on a whimper and tears pricked at his eyes as panic took over and tried to get himself to move. His brain screamed at arms and legs that were still motionless as if paralyzed.

Then Bendix’s hand ripped away from Tim’s shoulder with a sharp jolting tug and he looked up in shock to find Robin, grinning down at a prostrate Bendix. Bendix was curled at Robin’s feet, clutching his face and screaming in pain.

“Don’t worry, Tim,” Robin said in a bright, confident voice, looking over his shoulder at Tim and grinning broadly. “I’ve got him.”

And as Bendix tried to get to his feet Robin leapt up, spinning into a fearsome kick. But as he spun the red and green and gold of his uniform melted into dark grey and black and when the kick landed on Bendix’s chin it was Revenant that stood over him, not Robin.

Reventant’s eyes were dark and serious as he looked down at Bendix’s curled and whimpering figure. His lips pulled into a sneer as he took in the man cowering at his feet. 

“What did you think you were going to do?” Revenant asked, towering over Bendix with fury in his voice. 

”You’re wrong, you know.” Revenant hissed, punctuating his words with kicks and blows. “He’s not yours. He’ll never be yours. He doesn’t belong to you. He belongs to Gotham! He belongs to me!”

And with one more powerful kick, Revenant sent Bendix’s still cowering and bleeding body, tumbling off the side of the building on which they were standing. 

Tim winced at the thick, heavy sound of Bendix’s body hitting the concrete below. More than anything else in the world, Tim wanted to move from where he stood and look down to sidewalk below to find Bendix laying there, unmoving and dead. 

It was Revenant who moved first, though. He looked over the side of the building, as if he was just casually making sure Bendix wasn’t about to get back up. When he was satisfied with what he saw he turned back to Tim, walking calmly over the roof to stand next to him. 

“It’s ok, Tim. You’re safe now.” Revenant’s voice was was calm and steady now as he spoke to Tim. He sounded nothing like he did when he was shouting at Bendix and, despite everything he had done to Bendix, he wasn’t even breathing hard. 

As if those were magic words, suddenly it felt like all of Tim’s muscles and bones had just melted back into place. He felt like he could move again, speak again, think again. 

Tim let out a deep breath and looked up into Revenant’s face. Their eyes met and Revenant’s full lips relaxed into a smile. He reached out a hand and ran it through Tim’s hair, cupping the side of his face with a warm, gentle hand.

“I promise he can’t hurt you now. I’m here. I’ll keep you safe,” he whispered in a soft voice, leaning down to press a delicate kiss to Tim’s temple.

Tim breathed in deep, taking in Revenant’s scent. He turned his face, pressing his cheek more firmly in the palm of Revenant’s hand. 

“Thank you,” Tim heard himself whisper. “Thank you for saving me.”

Tim knew that those words weren’t enough. That Revenant would never be able to understand fully what he had saved Tim from, what he had given back to Tim. Tim wished he had the words to explain...

Tim pressed his lips to the palm of Revenant’s hand in a soft, grateful kiss.

“Tim, I will always be there to save you,” Revenant whispered in his ear as he pulled Tim into his hug. “Always. I promise.”

Tim wrapped his arms around Revenant’s neck, melting into the warm circle of Revenant’s arms. Sliding his hand to cup the back of Tim’s head, Revenant tilted Tim’s neck back and pressed their mouths together.

Revenant’s lips were warm, softer than than Tim could ever have imagined. Clutching Revenant tight to him, Tim kissed him back, heedless of where he was, of the terror that had so recently coursed through him. 

Revenant’s mouth was hot and slick over his own, Revenant’s hand ran down Tim’s back, pressing tight to the base of Tim’s spine.

Moaning into the kiss, Tim felt a jolt of passion shoot through him.

“Oh, Tim,” Revenant whispered against Tim’s mouth, breaking their kiss. “You feel so good. I never want to let you go.”

“So don’t,” Tim whispered back, breathlessly. “Don’t let go.”

Revenant began pressing soft kisses down the side of Tim’s neck and Tim shivered, gasping into the night air while Revenant-- 

Sitting upright with a jolt, Tim gasped, looking frantically around to reorient himself. He was sweating, thrashing in the twist of the blankets that covered his bed.

“Jesus,” he hissed, panting hard. Running a hand over his damp forehead Tim rocked back in the tangled mess of his sheets, trying to clear his mind. “Jesus.”

What the fuck had that been?

That nightmare was all too familiar to Tim. The dream had been recurring, ever since he had been kidnapped. The night was etched so vividly in his mind in part because he dreamed of it over and over again. 

But the dream tonight…

The dream tonight had been different. So different.

Sometimes, within the dream, Tim got the courage to run. Sometimes he fought back. Sometimes he even managed to get away. 

No one had ever showed up before. No one had ever rescued him. The whole thing had never devolved into…

Into a kiss.

A shot of heat flashed through Tim, his erection throbbed as he thought back to Revenant’s mouth on his. 

Shaking his head, Tim kicked back his blankets and swung his legs from his bed. Shivering, Tim grabbed a jacket and pulled it on. Pacing as he zipped it to his chin, Tim tried frantically to calm his pulse.

Reaching out to scoop up his cell phone from the nightstand, Tim pulled up his call logs. His thumb hovered over Apollo’s name on the readout for a few long moments before breathing out a sigh of exasperation and tossing his phone aside. 

Making his way to his kitchen instead, Tim filled his kettle and started to heat the water. He hoped that maybe some peppermint tea would calm his nerves.

The last several days had thrown Tim off balance, between seeing Jason again when he never expected to, breaking into the Batcave and coming face to face with Batman, hearing about Alfred, being asked about his parents and his kidnapping…

Tim wasn’t sure he had the emotional capacity to deal with that dream too. 

That dream would have been hard to handle at the best of times. The nightmare was bad enough, but Revenant attacking and ostensibly killing Bendix. Then there was the confusing kissing at the end…

Tim was fully willing to admit that kissing Jason had been on his mind, lately. He was trying to push past the attraction and resist the temptation to contact the man. 

Like Midnighter said, nothing good came from associating with the Bats.

Tim had told Jason he tried not to dwell on the bad things that happened to him, suggesting Jason try to do the same. What Tim neglected to mention was that he didn’t dwell himself because facing everything that happened to him, everything he had done, everything he felt and held inside seemed a little impossible. 

It was hard to think about and process, even with all the enhanced brain power Bendix had inflicted on him. There were some patterns and insights into his own behaviors Tim didn’t really want to see.

Sometimes Tim wished he had the same facility for lack of self awareness that normal people had. It would be nice, just once, for his brain not to go into overdrive as it examined every thought and feeling he had. 

Even sleep seemed like no escape from it. The stupidly stubborn computers in his brain wouldn’t allow for human self denial. His mind persisted in making him remember what happened with Bendix. Making him deal with his fear and pain and helplessness. It made him face how he felt about Jason, the attraction, the passion, the conflicted nature of it all.

The kettle came to a boil with a slowness that was close to maddening. Tim prepped his tea as he glanced over his shoulder at his cell phone, still on the bedside table.

It was only 11 at night. Apollo would be awake…

Taking his mug over to his bed, he sat on the edge and picked up his phone again. Selecting Apollo’s number he held the phone to his ear as it rang.

“Hey, sweetie, how are you? It’s been awhile,” Apollo’s voice was bright and Tim could hear a smile in it. There was an underlying tenseness, though, that Tim didn’t like the sound of. He wondered what Midnighter was telling Apollo about what he had been up to lately.

Plus Apollo was a perceptive man, he was much, much better at reading between the lines than Midnighter. It made Tim half regret making the call as he considered all the polite but invasive questions Apollo was sure to ask. 

There was noise in the background of the call, it sounded like Apollo was out somewhere. Maybe he and Midnighter were still out at dinner...

“We spoke two days ago,” Tim pointed out more calmly than he had expected to sound. “If you’re out, though, I can call back later.”

“No, no, no,” Apollo protested. “I’m out but I can talk for a bit. How are you doing?”

It was clear that Apollo had caught on to the fact Tim hadn’t answered the question the first time he asked. Unfortunately for Tim, Apollo wasn’t as easily distracted as Batman…

“I’m—“ Tim began but then wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. He didn’t want to lie but he also didn’t want to upset or worry his ostensible parents.

But then, it was pretty clear they were already worried with all the phone calls and Midnighter’s new found fondness for randomly stopping by Hitch. 

“I… I just had a bad dream tonight and I wanted to talk a little until…” Tim trailed off but Apollo seemed to understand.

“Ohhhh, sweetie,” Apollo said in a soothing sort of voice. “That happens to me and Midnighter too, sometimes. You just need a little time and space to shake it off. Focus on something else for a little while.”

“Yeah,” Tim agreed softly, not so sure ‘a little time’ would be adequate to shake that dream off. “I guess so.”

“How’s the Intergang thing going? Did you need some help there? Midnighter and I would be happy to—“

“I’ve got it,” Tim said. “It’s all under control.”

Apollo hesitated before starting in again.

“Midnighter said you’d been going into the field more and more. And you don’t have backup…”

“I haven’t been alone,” Tim said quickly and then immediately wished he hadn’t.

“Yes, I heard you were spending your time in the field with one of the Bats. Sweetheart, I think maybe—“

“It’s fine.” Tim cut Apollo off abruptly a little more sharply than he intended. “Don’t worry about it, it’s fine.”

Apollo went pointedly quiet for a few long moments and Tim winced. He was at a loss to say. He didn’t want to lie to Apollo but he also didn’t want to talk about Jason. 

Not now. Not after the dream.

Tim puffed out a sigh and wished he knew what to say to that.

“There’s just… There’s just too much going on to really get into it, I guess. I’ve had a lot on my mind so I’ve just been feeling… a little lost—“ Tim broke off, not sure what else he could say to explain.

Apollo was quiet on the other end of the line, Tim could tell he was thinking about what Tim had said in his careful, considering way. Tim even knew exactly what expression was on Apollo’s face right at that moment. 

“It’s been hard,” Apollo began, “these past few years have been difficult for all of us, I get that. I’m feeling it too. So is Midnighter. We spent so much trying focusing on surviving, then escaping, then running, then saving the universe. It doesn’t leave a guy a lot of time to process and cope. And I think that might have been good for us, for a while, to just act and not think about the pain we were in or what we had lost. But now… Now we’re safe. Now we have each other. Now we have time and space and energy and that finally gives our brains a chance to process everything we’ve been through.”

Tim thought about that for a beat. On some level, he thought Apollo was right. Tim’s brain worked a little differently than Apollo’s or even Midnighter’s. Tim was sure his brain was processing things all along. It was just that now his brain was making his focus on it.

“I think you’re right, that’s probably part of it,” Tim conceded. 

“What’s the other part, do you think?” Apollo asked.

Tim was quiet, not sure how to answer.

“Midnighter said you knew the young man who has gotten mixed up with the Intergang case when you were young,” Apollo ventured, his voice soft and understanding.

“I— I knew him,” Tim admitted.

“He also said the young man is very handsome.”

Tim swallowed hard and his face flushed as brief flashes from his dream appeared vividly in his mind. 

“I know Midnighter told you not to get mixed up with him,” Apollo said, his voice a little more firm and the cadence of his words were a bit faster. “I know he’s worried about you. But I think— I think it’s good for you to be spending time with people your age. I think it’s good for you to get off of Hitch once in a while.”

“I thought you didn’t like it when I went into the field.”

“I don’t like it. I worry. But I’m not saying save the world with this guy. I mean, do it if the world needs saving, but don’t let that be the only reason you see him.”

Tim breathed out a slightly bitter laugh.

“Meaning what? I should take him out to a bar? See a Knights game with him?”

“Why not? He seems like a nice boy and when’s the last time you went to a baseball game?”

“Been a while,” Tim admitted.

“Look, I think you like this guy. You wouldn’t be making up reasons to see him if you didn’t. I think it’s making you worry about who you are and how what happened to you changed you. I think it’s making you consider who you want to be in the future and what all of that looks like.”

Tim took a sip of his tea, thinking about Apollo’s words for a beat before answering.

“You might be right,” Tim agreed.

“Of course I’m right,” Apollo said and Tim felt himself smile for the first time in a quite a while. “All of that? It’s a good thing, Tim. It’s good for you to think about your future. It’s good for you to want to get out into the world. It’s good for you to want to kiss on some boys.”

“So what you’re saying is—“

“I’m saying ignore Midnighter. Your father is overprotective. I’m saying find a reason to see this guy that doesn’t involve multidimensional arms dealers. I’m saying go out on a date, kiss the guy, go back to his apartment and—“

“Ok, I’m gonna stop you there,” Tim cut in, breathing out a soft laugh. 

Apollo laughed too, rich and affectionate.

“You get the idea,” Apollo said. “I’m not saying all of it will be easy, but I am saying it’ll be fun.”

“Hmmmm, I’ll take it under advisement,” Tim conceded.

“Are you feeling better?” Apollo asked, his tone softer now. “Did you want me to come over? I could bring Midnighter. We could watch a movie.”

Tim felt a flood of affection for Apollo fill him. His parents had always been distant. Anything aside from basic necessities was something he had to handle on his own. Hell, even sometimes the basics weren’t taken care of. Tim had essentially raised himself with a little help from Alfred and Mrs. Mac for the first 13 years of his life. 

Tim, Apollo, and Midnighter had bonded over everything that had happened with Bendix. It was nice to know that now, despite everything that had happened, he finally had someone he could always call if he needed anything.

“I’m good. I gotta get back to work and then come up with a cunning plan to seduce a superhero.”

“Well let me know if you need help with the last one,” Apollo said. “I have some expertise in that area.”

They were both laughing as Tim hung up the call, feeling much better than he had been when he woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear Jason,
> 
> Don't make fart jokes around someone you want to make out with.
> 
> Love,  
> Everyone In the Universe Ever  
> XOXOXOXO


	4. Chasing Away the Chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim and Jason finally go after some bad guys and have a heart to heart.

Rocking back in his computer chair, Tim took in the final results of his analysis with a contemplative eye. Reaching for his ever present mug of peppermint tea, Tim took a sip as he considered next steps.

Over the last few days, Tim had been using the broken transporter Jason had liberated from one of Intergang’s hideouts to locate any others that might be connected to it. He managed to locate a total of three other transporters, one of which was in a warehouse Tim suspected also contained a substantial arms cache. 

The key to totally stopping the flow of arms was to destroy all of the transporters at roughly the same time. If Intergang caught wind that someone was destroying their ticket to new and fantastical weaponry, they might flee with the remaining units, altering them so Tim could no longer locate them. He would also need to figure out how destroy the remaining arms cache along with all the transporter units. 

When Tim finally acted, he would need to act fast. He would have to prep any explosives in Hitch before he went out into the field. Then all he would need to do was lure the Intergang members away from the transporters, use a door to slip into the room with the device, set the timers on the charges and slip away before the blast was activated.

Taking another sip of his tea Tim briefly considered, then dismissed, the idea of asking Apollo and Midnighter for help. He would much prefer to see this through mostly on his own. Maybe it was a stubborn, rebellious instinct, but Tim was going to go with it anyway.

Tim loved Stormwatch. He knew that Midnighter and Apollo were just looking for excuses to step in and help out. But Tim had struck out on his own for a reason. He wanted to see what he could do without relying on them. 

Given that the locations of the transporters was in Jason Todd’s ‘territory’, so to speak, he was probably the best candidate to help Tim in this endeavor, anyway. Apollo and Midnighter did not really have the context around this case. Plus Jason’s ability to get intel on the gangs in the area would be invaluable in clearing the buildings, or at least the rooms with the transporters and weapons, before they set the charges.

Besides, it would be a prime opportunity to take some of Apollo’s advice and make up an excuse to talk with Jason again. It wasn’t a baseball game or a bar, but Tim thought they could more than adequately get to know each other over explosives rather than a beer. It felt a little more on message for Tim, anyway.

Apollo was right, after all. It would be good for him to spend time with people who were just people and not reluctant cybernetic experiments. Even if that time was spent stopping inter dimensional arms smuggling.

So Tim had the location of the transporters, he had the explosives he would need to destroy them. All he needed now was talk Jason into being his back up and figure out how they would lure the Intergang members away from their transporters.

Leaning forward to punch a few keys on this computer, Tim checked to see if Jason’s communicator was live. Belatedly cutting his eyes to the clock, he saw that it was almost six pm just as the communicator frequency registered as live. Hitting a few more keys, Tim accessed the communicator, switched it to one of his own secure lines and waited to see if he could hear Todd’s breathing.

What he heard was Todd having a brief conversation with someone about the recent Knights game. From the sound of it, the person he was talking to was as unhappy as Todd about the recent game. They continued their conversation for a few more minutes, then Todd went silent. It sounded like he was walking away from the other man. Tim waited a few more moments before speaking.

“Are you alone?”

“Jesus-fuck!! What the—!? Dusk?” Jason’s voice went high with surprise and alarm.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you,” Tim said.

“You absolutely did scare me, though. Jeeze, give a guy a warning. I am, actually, alone and I didn’t expect to suddenly have you whispering in my ear,” Jason hissed.

“Don’t the others contact you this way?”

“Yeah but they beep on the line and say ‘Hey Jay, how’s it going? Did you have to kick anyone’s ass at work today?’ They don’t just whisper ‘Are you alone?’ Like some horror movie.”

“Did you have to kick anyone’s ass at work today?”

“Nah, the clinic was quiet, today. What about you? Kick anyone’s ass today or did you just settle for scaring the shit out of everyone.”

“Scaring the shit out of people is generally more in my wheelhouse, but I do have some hopes for kicking ass later tonight. It’s why I wanted to reach out to you…”

“That sounds promising. Whatcha got?”

Tim hesitated before answering.

“It’s best if we talk in person. Head home, suit up, let me know when you’re ready and I’ll call you a door.”

“You’re a little bossy, you know that?”

“Yes, being bossy is one of the many things at which I excel.”

“Also your wheelhouse? Along with scaring the shit out of people.”

“I think the two are actually interrelated.”

Jason huffed out a laugh. It was less than fifteen minutes later when Jason told him he was ready to go. Tim called a door on the roof of his apartment building and Todd walked through, in full uniform, eating an apple. He gave Tim a wave hello and smiled through a cheekful of apple.

“That will never stop being weird,” Jason said, looking behind him as the door disappeared. 

“I used to think that too, but you do get used to it,” Tim said, walking over to Jason. 

Jason was wearing his full uniform, mask and all. His hair, though, was neatly styled back. Different from his usual nocturnal look. Maybe he did something different with it before he went out into the field at night...

“What’s up, my man? News on Intergang?”

“Better than that. I found the other transporters.”

“Oh yeah? Where are they?”

“Your stomping grounds, mostly,” Tim replied gesturing for Jason to follow him to his computer. Tim pulled up a map of Gotham City and pointed out several dots on the screen. 

“Red marks are the transporters. Purple dots are where I think there are arms caches,” Tim explained.

“Only three locations, not bad,” Jason said as he took in the map.

“Yes, but we need to hit them all almost simultaneously, we don’t want to give them an opportunity to tip each other off and flee with the equipment,” Tim explained. “We also need to figure out a way to lure them away from the devices and weapons so we can set charges and slip out before any of them realize.”

“Why do we need to lure them out? Why not just kick their asses, pull them away from the explosives, set the charges and take off?” Jason asked.

“Because I have no idea what all of those weapons they smuggled in do, let alone how to protect against them. I’d rather not go toe to toe with someone if they might have a gun that could liquify me in an instant or level a city block. Plus they’re sure to call their comrades for backup if they’re directly attacked.”

“That is a fair and valid point,” Jason conceded. “I had not thought about the liquifying part. I’m so down for the sneak attack.”

“Perfect. That’s where you come in. I thought you might have some insights on how to get them out of there for a while. Something like fire alarms, ice cream trucks, puppy parades…?”

“Oh yeah, it’s well known that members of the Gotham City criminal element are fundamentally incapable of passing up a puppy parade.”

“I’m glad I asked, I was going to go with the ice cream truck.”

“It’s fall, now. That’s a summertime ploy, my man. Stick with me, I’ll teach you the ins and outs.”

Tim looked up to smile at Jason and found the man grinning down at him.

“Problem is, I don’t have any puppies…”

“You don’t keep a puppy closet on this thing?”

“‘Fraid not. Midnighter is allergic.”

Jason lifted an eyebrow at him and his smile turned sly.

“I thought you didn’t work with Stormwatch.”

“I never said I didn’t invite them over for tea.”

“Does Midnighter drink tea? He always struck me as the type of person more likely to drink the blood of his enemies.”

“It’s hard to find that bottled, so he actually sticks with coffee when he’s here, usually.”

“No puppies. No vials of human blood. What do you have to work with here?”

“I have sound and lighting equipment that can fairly convincingly simulate a drive by shooting. Oh and explosives. I have a lot of those.”

Jason grinned. 

“Well I suppose if you don’t have puppies, that might have to do.”

“You think a fake hail of gunfire would work to lure them out?”

Jason looked thoughtful for a moment.

“I think so. They are notorious for loving puppies and hating getting shot at, so I think we’ll be good.”

They spent the next few hours readying the charges and planning their course of action. After prepping the explosives and timers, they tucked them away in their packs. They used Tim’s satellite’s to check out the areas surrounding the locations that housed the transporters to scope out hiding spots for the sound and lighting equipment they needed to lure the Intergang members out of the buildings. It was nearly three in the morning by the time they were finished with their preparations.

“Ok, here’s the final plan: I’ll open a door for you to the site with the the weapons cache,” Tim told Jason, tucking a communicator into his ear. “You set the charges there while I set the charges on the two sites that only contain transporters. I’ll call a door and help you with the last of your explosives, then a call a door for us leave before the time on the charges is up.”

“Got it. You sure you’ll be ok on your own?” Jason asked him.

“I’ll be fine. There’s an open line on the communicator. Call if me if anything goes wrong. I’ll call a door and be there in seconds.”

Jason nodded and slung his pack carefully over one shoulder. Tim hit a few keys on his computer, activating the sound and lighting equipment to begin the attack simulations on all three locations.

Tim called a door and Jason gave him one last airy wave before walking through it and into the room with the arms cache, explosives in hand. As that door vanished, Tim called another door leading to his first site. Pack in hand, Tim walked through and into a cool dark room. 

There was still sounds of shouting and the bang of gunfire outside of the building when Tim stepped through the door and into the room with the transporter. It took Tim less than a minute to set the charges and call another door to the second location.

Unfortunately, the run on second location didn’t go as smoothly as the first. When he stepped into the room, he saw immediately that their distraction had not been as effective as they had hoped. While there was still the rush of panicked voices outside and pitter of automatic gunfire, two men had stayed behind to protect the transporter. 

Tim’s eyes widened as the men leapt to their feet at the sight of him. They both fumbled for guns that were tucked into their pockets. A thousand fight scenarios ran through Tim’s head in a heartbeat. Dropping to the floor as the first bullets hit the wall behind him. Tim quickly tapped at the computer on his glove. One bullet grazed his left outer thigh as outside, the sound of police sirens howled, the sound growing steadily louder. Suddenly a blast of hazy voices shouted that the building was surrounded by GCPD and everyone should give up their guns and exit with their hands up. 

The two men stopped shooting, glanced at each other with panic in their eyes. They took off for the nearest door and Tim stumbled to his feet. He set the charges as quickly as possible, before punching in a command to make the police sirens and shouting run on a loop. Hoping fervently the noise would keep anyone from coming back in the building Tim called a door for a last location.

Tim tripped slightly as he made his way through the door and into the final location. Looking around, he saw the charges set among the arms cache, but no sign of Jason.

“Revenant?” Tim hissed into the communicator. 

“Little busy, Dusk,” Jason panted back.

Tim shook his head in frustration as he slipped out the door of the room and into a narrow hallway. Following the sounds of a fight coming from down the hall, Tim pushed into another room to find Jason tussling with two Intergang members. 

Tim rushed in, pulling one of them off of Jason. The two of them tumbled back, the man twisting furiously to face Tim. Before Tim had a chance to think or react, the man had hauled back a fist and punched Tim in the side of the head. Tim went down, slightly dazed and feeling blood trickle down his temple. He rolled away from the man, but he was hot in Tim’s trail. From the ground, Tim kicked out a foot, collapsing the man’s knee and sending him to the ground next to Tim. 

Shifting his weight, Tim rocked to his feet above the man. Tim called a door to the back alley on the ground next to man as he kicked out a foot. The kick hit the man hard in the center of the back and he went rolling across the floor and through the door. 

Tim shut the door with shout, moving back to Jason who was still throwing punches at the other man. Jason seemed to have gained the upper hand. The man was being pushed back by a volley of punches. Tim called for a door to the man’s side, this one to Gotham City Harbor. A brief call from a flock of gulls sounded through the door before Tim rushed forward and hit the man with his shoulder, sending him tumbling through the door. A splash and a gasp sounded before the door shut behind him and Tim turned to face Jason.

“What happened?” Tim asked, gasping for breath as he rubbed blood from his eyes.

“Transporter wasn’t with the weapons,” Jason said, taking off through the doorway and down the hall. “There’s one more room I haven’t searched, it should be there.”

Tim glanced at the readout on his glove. The fight had taken some time. They only had four minutes until the charges went off. Despite the pain in his leg, Tim picked up speed. He and Jason made their way into the last room. It took them a few precious minutes to find the transporter and set the charges. Tim had only just called for a door with the concussive force of the explosion flared and made him go dizzy around eyes.

Gasping in pain, Tim felt his legs give out from under him as a bright flash hit his eyes and then everything went black.

^*^*^*^*^*^*^

Jason saw the door shimmer open in front of them just as the blast hit. He heard Tim gasp and start to go down with the force of the concussion. Jason wrapped an arm around Tim’s waist, pulling him in close and rushing through the door. It felt like the explosion followed them through. 

Even inside of Hitch, Jason could feel the heat from the explosion. Tim was slumped against his shoulder, his eyes shut in pain and breathing shallowly.

“Close door. Close door. Close door,” Jason heard himself shouting. Miraculously, Hitch seemed to listen, or maybe the doors eventually closed on their down. The door shut with a whoosh and Jason collapsed to the floor, Tim still in his arms. 

That’s when Jason saw the blood on Tim’s face and thigh. 

“Shit, shit, shit,” Jason hissed, suddenly feeling panicked. “Tim? Tim are you ok?”

Tim looked only half conscious. He was still bleeding from a wound on his head when Jason pulled him close, resting Tim’s head against his chest.

Jason couldn’t see how bad Tim’s head wound was because the source of the blood on Tim’s face was concealed under his mask. Jason pulled his gloves off with teeth before using his fingers to pull at the corners of the mask that covered the upper part of Tim’s face. It pulled away easily from Tim’s pale skin. Jason tossed it to one side as looked past the blood to the wound.

The skin on the side of Tim’s forehead had split with the force of a blow. Jason pushed his chest armor aside, and pulled out a corner of his undershirt to wipe at the blood on Tim’s face. Jason could see the dark purple bruise starting to form under the smear of blood. Looking down at Tim’s leg he saw a dark stain from blood that had soaked into the grey fabric of Tim’s uniform. The wounds didn’t look too serious, but it was clear Tim had lost blood and was probably suffering from a slight concussion. 

“Hey, buddy,” Jason whispered to Tim. “You hurt anywhere else? Tim?”

Tim’s head shook slightly from side to side as his eyes fluttered opened. Blinking past the blood on his lashes, Tim looked up at Jason.

Tim’s eyes were still the same bright blue they had been when he and Jason were kids, but Jason could see that now the blue irises were rimmed by a thin band of silver. The band expanded and contracted slightly as Tim’s eyes focused on Jason’s face.

The ring in his irises looked almost mechanical. But what could cause...

“I’m fine. I’m not hurt anywhere else,” Tim said, startling Jason’s attention back away from his eyes. Tim made no move to sit up or pull away from Jason arms. “Are you ok?”

“I’m… I’m fine. Just bruises,” Jason stammered. Jason swallowed hard as he looked down at Tim’s unmasked face. Tim’s brows were knitted in a slight grimace and his jaw was tight with pain under the sticky spill of blood.

“That was not fun,” Tim said, in a dull sort of voice, wincing as he shifted his head. “Now I remember why I leave that sort of thing to other people.”

“You’ll need some butterfly stitches on your forehead, for sure,” Jason said. “Not sure about your leg.”

Tim sat up then, reaching towards the wound on his leg. 

“It hurts like hell, but it doesn’t seem deep,” Tim said, testing the spot with his fingers. “I could probably get away with some bandages.”

“Med kit?” Jason asked.

“In the table by my bed,” Tim answered and got to his feet, moving slowly over to his bed. He sat down heavily on the side of bed, careful to keep his bloody thigh away from the blankets.

Jason followed him over. It was warm in Hitch, and Jason pulled off his mask and overcoat, tossing it over a chair before making his way to the table near the bed.

Opening the drawer Tim indicated, Jason pulled out a med kit. It was well stocked and neatly organized with all the items tucked securely in smaller compartments. 

Jason pulled out a roll of gaze, tape, disinfectant and some butterfly stitches. Tim pulled a dark colored towel from another drawer and wiped the blood from his face. Jason grabbed some water and another towel from Tim’s kitchen area and came back to the bed as Tim was pulling off the pants of his uniform.

Jason tried hard not to focus on the smooth, pale line of Tim’s upper thigh as they cleaned off the wounds on his face and leg. Applying disinfectant with a wince, Tim bandaged his thigh tight. Jason dabbed the disinfectant to his forehead, holding Tim’s face still as he started to wince again.

“If you think that hurt, just wait until we put the stitches on,” Jason joked.

Tim grimaced up at him. Now that the blood was all washed from his forehead, the bruise there was a deep purple and quite dramatic on his pale skin. 

“Great. Absolutely looking forward to that.”

After the cut was cleaned, Jason pulled out the butterfly stitches from their package and held them up for Tim to look at.

“You ever do this before?” Jason asked.

“Um, I’ve had regular stitches.” Tim said.

“With anesthetic?” Jason asked.

Tim cut his eyes away from Jason and bit his lower lip. He didn’t answer. 

“Well this is gonna suck,” Jason warned as he applied one side of the stitches to one side of the cut. “I’m going to have to pinch the two sides of the cut together and I need you to not pull away while I do it so we can make sure it gets applied correctly.”

“Ok,” Tim agree and Jason could see his shoulders go tense. 

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

Jason tried to move quick, he pinched the cut on Tim’s forehead together and applied the other side of the butterfly stitches. By the time they were done, with the three it took to close the cut, Tim was very pale and damp with sweat.

“Sorry, I know how much that sucks,” Jason said when they were done, sitting down on the bed next to Tim.

“I’ve had worse,” Tim said.

They both went quiet for a few minutes as Jason leaned back on Tim’s bed. Supporting himself on his elbows, Jason sunk into a deep packet of blankets that covered the mattress. 

“What… What’s in your eyes?” Jason asked, in a soft sort of voice.

“My eyes?” Tim asked, sounding a little confused. He looked over his shoulder down at Jason, one eyebrow raised in inquiry. 

“There’s… there’s silver in them.”

“Ah, you could see it?” Tim asked, his voice suddenly very flat. “Most people don’t notice.”

“Yeah, there’s a ring of it, around your irises.”

Tim looked away from Jason and didn’t answer, so Jason pressed on.

“It moved… when you looked at me. Expanded and contracted a little.”

“Mmmm,” Tim murmured in response.

“What is it from?” Jason asked.

Tim didn’t answer again.

“It wasn’t there when we were kids.”

Tim pushed up off the bed and got to his feet. 

“Do you want some coffee? Tea?” Tim asked, moving towards his electric tea kettle.

Jason watched him walk away, looking at him consideringly. 

“Water would be nice,” Jason said. “Or a beer, if you’ve got one.”

Tim glanced back at Jason, switched off the kettle and pivoted to a small door on the side of the ship. Pulling open what looked like a refrigerator, Tim pulled out two bottles and cracked them open. 

Tim walked back over to the bed, a bottle in each hand. He passed one off to Jason, Jason took it and lifted it to tap the neck of his bottle against Tim’s.

“Another interdimensional arms smuggling ring eliminated,” Jason said as a toast and watched as Tim smiled when he took a sip.

“Might want to use that to wash down a few painkillers,” Jason suggested as Tim settled back on the bed next to Jason.

“Nah, I’ll be fine.”

“It doesn’t hurt?”

“I’ve had worse.”

“Yeah, you said. You just never mentioned when, or how, or what happened.”

“I guess I didn’t,” Tim admitted.

Jason also couldn’t help but think to himself that Tim had never told him why Tim went missing, where he had been for the past ten years or why he hadn’t come home.

Lots of questions still without answers.

“It’s not easy--” Tim began, then stopped abruptly before taking in a deep breath. “It’s not easy to talk about.”

“You were taken then?” Jason asked softly as he watched Tim’s face carefully. 

Tim just nodded mutely, not looking at Jason.

“The person who took you… They hurt you?”

Tim huffed out a bitter, soundless laugh that was more about air leaving his lungs than any sort of humor.

“Yes, he hurt me.”

“I could-- We could find him. Put him in jail. Make it so he can’t hurt you, can’t hurt anyone--”

Tim made a sharp gesture with his beer bottle to cut Jason off.

“That’s not something you need to worry about,” Tim said flatly.

Jason went quiet, wondering if he should dig into that little gem a bit more. Tim had not been an open and easy kid, but judging by the way he acted now, how closed off and isolated he seemed to be… Jason was pretty sure whatever the person who had kidnapped Tim had done to him, it hadn’t been good. And then there was the silver Tim’s eyes…

Jason also couldn’t help but think about the Joker, about how he felt after he died, about how he felt as he recovered. He thought about the fear and the pain and the betrayal he felt that Bruce and Dick hadn’t gotten there just a few minutes sooner to save him from the worst of it.

Then he thought about Tim. He wondered again if there was anyone there for him to help him past the pain and the nightmares. He wondered if Tim felt the same sense of loss and anger at the people who were supposed to protect him but didn’t. 

Jason decided that maybe he didn’t was to press Tim on that point after all. Even if Tim had killed his kidnapper, Jason couldn’t find it within himself to blame Tim for feeling like he needed to take that step. In another life, as another person, Jason could see himself making that same decision too.

“Ok, I get it.” Jason said as he nodded and took another sip from his bottle.

“I didn’t kill him,” Tim said eventually. “If that’s what you’re thinking.”

“I wouldn’t blame you if you did,” Jason said. “You said the guy killed you. Turn around is fair play. No one understands that as well as I do.”

Tim sighed and leaned back on the bed next to Jason, propping himself against Hitch’s wall. He was looking thoughtful and serious.

“I’m sorry about what happened to you. Batman wasn’t there to save you?” Tim asked.

“He came. Just not before…” Jason finished his sentence with a shrug.

Tim nodded, then winced in pain. 

Jason reached out a hand and cupped the back of Tim’s head in a way he hoped was comforting.

“You sure you don’t want those painkillers?” Jason asked, running his fingers gently through the hair at the back of Tim’s neck. His fingers went instinctively to the pressure points there that Bruce had taught him, the points that would relieve pain. 

Tim closed his eyes and pressed his head back into Jason’s hand with a small sigh.

“It’s fine. I can deal,” Tim said softly.

Tim’s hair was silky and soft against Jason’s fingers. His skin was slightly cool except for the area around his purpling bruise. His face was more relaxed than Jason could ever remember seeing it before but there was still some tension around his eyes from the pain.

“Next time,” Jason said, moving in to press a soft kiss to the skin just above the bruise on Tim’s forehead, “no going in anywhere solo, ok?”

Tim opened his eyes to look at Jason. They were close enough together that Jason could see the silver around his eyes dilating and contracting like an iris as Tim watched him interestedly.

“Next time?” Tim asked.

“Yeah, I decided I really like working with a guy who can throw people into the ocean even when when we’re miles away from it. It’s super handy.”

Tim huffed a laugh.

“His friend hit me really hard. It was tempting to push him into a landfill instead but I couldn’t remember where it was.”

“Ooooooh, I like where your head’s at,” Jason teased, tugging at a lock of hair on Tim’s forehead. “I know a couple of guys I’d like to drop in a landfill. Or maybe put back into a sewer where they belong.”

Tim smiled at him and shook his head.

“I would like to avoid being in the proximity of any Gotham City sewers as much as humanly possible,” Tim said. 

“Fine, we can stick to throwing people into the bay if we have to,” Jason conceded, smiling back at Tim. 

“Do we… Do we really have to throw people anywhere?” Tim asked hesitantly, looking away from Jason’s face.

“What do you mean?”Jason asked, using the hand on the back of Tim’s neck to tilt his head to so he was facing Jason again.

“I mean next time we see each other. Do we need to be fighting off interdimensional arms dealers or can we just--” Tim trailed off, waving his hand expressively. 

“Tim, are you asking me out on a date?” Jason asked, grinning widely. Tim’s stiffened slightly and Jason could see his cheeks flush. 

“Not as such…” Tim hemmed and Jason laughed at the expression on his face. “I was just thinking we could--”

Jason was still laughing as he used the hand at the back of Tim’s neck to pull him in to a kiss. Tim’s mouth was slightly cool under his own and his eyes widened as Jason pressed their lips together. Tim’s hands came up, cool and soft, to wrap around Jason’s neck. Shifting to move on top of Jason, he slid his body against Jason’s. Tilting his head, Tim pressed his mouth more firmly against Jason’s lips.

Jason closed his eyes as he savored the feeling of Tim’s cool mouth and slender body pressed against his own. Tim’s slick, soft tongue met Jason’s almost hesitantly as he deepened the kiss. Jason tried to suppress a soft moan, his fingers tightening in Tim’s silky hair.

Breaking the kiss with a gasp, Tim breathed hard against Jason’s mouth.

“You feel so very good,” Jason whispered against Tim’s mouth. Letting one hand slide down Tim’s body, Jason rested his hand against the small of Tim’s back and felt Tim arch against him.

Jason shifted against Tim, pressing them closer. Tim let out a soft gasp, his silver and blue eyes opening wide. He grabbed on to Jason abruptly, tugging him close fiercely and rocking against him. Jason felt the hard warmth of Tim’s erection pressed against his thigh and the soft keening sound Tim let out as rocked made Jason see white as heat pooled in his belly. Pressing wet, desperate kisses to Tim’s neck, Jason’s instincts took over as he rolled Tim under him on the bed.

Tim gasped again, but this time, it wasn’t a good gasp. Hazily, Jason pulled back, suddenly remembering the wounds on Tim’s head and thigh. 

“I--” Jason started but broke off as Tim interrupted.

“No, I’m fine. Don’t stop,” Tim’s voice was low and desperate in a way that made Jason’s cock throb. 

“I won’t stop,” Jason promised. “But I can be a little gentler.”

“Don’t-- don’t want gentle,” Tim stammered out. “I just want you.”

“Oooooh,” Jason breathed. “I like the sound of that.”

Pulling off his shirt, Jason tossed it off the side of the bed and reached for Tim’s. He was gentle as he pulled it over Tim’s head. Tim’s hand reached out and ran cool and gentle over Jason’s chest. Tracing the lines of Jason’s muscles and scars with light brushes of his fingertips, Tim felt Jason all over. Pressing into Tim’s hands, Jason let out a soft sigh as leaned back down. Placing two hands on either side of Tim’s head, Jason braced himself on his arms, pressing a kiss to Tim’s temple. He kissed his way down Tim’s neck, his shoulders, his chest and stomach as Tim writhed and moved beneath his mouth. 

Tonguing along the waistband of Tim’s uniform pants Jason reveled in the sounds Tim made. Tim’s fingers tangled roughly in Jason’s hair as he urged him on. Careful of the wound on Tim’s thigh, Jason eased the pants down over Tim’s legs, pressing kisses against the sharp jut of Tim’s hip bones as he worked.

Tossing the pants to the side, Jason looked up at Tim’s face then. He was watching Jason with a soul wrenching intensity. Silver and blue eyes were trained on Jason’s mouth as Tim’s chest heaved with every breath. Tim bit his lip, looking contemplative for one brief moment before he nudged Jason’s shoulder with a knee. 

“Yours next,” he said in a husky voice that made Jason shiver. 

Pulling off the rest of his uniform, Jason tossed it aside. Tim moved long pale legs apart invitingly and Jason moved settle between them. Taking in the long, slender length of Tim’s body, criss crossed with what looked almost like surgery scars and slick long ago burned skin, Jason let out a low shallow breath. The dark flush of his erection against Tim’s hip was almost mesmerizing. 

Settling his weight back on his arms as he leaned down over Tim again, Jason rocked up to press another hot, wet kiss to Tim’s mouth. Tim wrapped his arms around Jason’s neck and leaned in to the kiss. Tim shifted his body beneath Jason’s, arching up to wrap those long, agile legs around Jason’s waist. Their cocks pressed together, skin to skin and Jason moaned as Tim gasped and rocked their hips in tandem.

Jason felt his skin prick as they moved together in the warmth of the room and the tangled nest of the thick blankets of Tim’s bed. Bodies rocked and chests heaved with wordless gasps as they moved together, skin slick with sweat. Tim’s fingers gripped Jason’s arms with fierce desperation as he let out soft keening cries with each rock of Jason’s hips. 

Tim stiffed in Jason’s arms, back arched and muscles tight as he came, spilling over Jason’s cock and letting out a broken sort of gasp. Jason felt himself go hot all over as he watched Tim writhe under him. He came, seconds later, pressing his face to Tim’s neck as he pulled Tim’s body as close to his own as he could.

They lay together, desperately trying to catch their breath. Tim nudged Jason with his knee again, squirming under him. 

“Can you move your leg just a little?” Tim asked, trying to move his wounded thigh out from under Jason. 

“Sorry,” Jason said, rolling to one side but letting his arm drape over Tim’s stomach. “Did I hurt you?”

“Mmmm, it was worth it,” Tim said, and he sounded a little smug.

Jason laughed and pressed a kiss Tim’s jawline. 

“What are the chances you have a shower on this thing? I hate to break it to you, but I think we’re a little sticky.”

“Mmm, there is a shower. I’ll show you where it is when I can feel my legs again.” Tim said, tossing Jason the damp towel from their first aid adventures. Jason wiped them clean as grinned at Tim and waggled his eyebrows. 

“Oh yeah?”

“Don’t be so smug,” Tim said, smiling back. “I did half the work.”

Jason laughed as he tossed the towel to the side and reached out a hand. He cupped Tim’s chin and pulled him in for another kiss. When they parted, Jason looked into Tim’s face. He looked relaxed now. The tightness from the pain that seemed to linger around the corners of Tim’s eyes had faded. He looked relaxed, at ease in a way that Jason hadn’t seen from him before.

The silver that ringed Tim’s eyes expanded and contracted as he watched Jason’s face. Jason tilted his head to one side and looked at them closely. They looked almost like--

“It’s a computer,” Tim said softly, his expression tightening just slightly as he said it. “In my eyes.”

“Just in your eyes?” Jason asked, running his fingers down over Tim’s chest and shoulders, skirting some of the scars that crisscrossed Tim’s body.

“No, not just my eyes,” Tim admitted softly.

“The man who kidnapped you…”

“He did this to me,” Tim confirmed.

Jason’s fingers played lightly in the air just above the slick pale bumps of the scars. He knew how tender scar tissue could be, how much it hurt when abraded, how sensitive it was to the slightest irritation. 

“You said he’s dead?” Jason breathed out the question in a light whisper.

Tim reached down and put his hands over Jason’s, pressing Jason’s palms to gently beating heart. 

“He’s gone,” Tim confirmed. 

“Good,” Jason said and moved to press another kiss softly to Tim’s temple. 

Tim breathed out a sigh and pulled Jason close, shivering as Jason pressed another kiss to his lips.

“You cold?” Jason asked, tugging at some of the blankets to pull them up over them, heedless of the mess.

“Actually,” Tim said in a soft voice, settling in close to Jason and resting his head on Jason’s chest. “I’m not. For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel cold.”

“Mmmmm,” Jason said, pulling Tim in closer and kissing him again. “Me neither.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all liked it! 
> 
> Honestly, this story was just to set up the Universe so I could send Tim and Jason on rad inter-dimensional adventures, so expect more in this universe!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoy this one!!


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